CDs upcycled into flexible biosensors
Gold compact discs are being given a second life in the US by being turned into flexible biosensors that are inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
In a paper published in Nature Communications, Matthew Brown, PhD ’22, and Assistant Professor Ahyeon Koh from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Binghamton University, State University of New York, show how a gold CD’s thin metallic layer can be separated from the rigid plastic and turned into sensors to monitor electrical activity in human hearts and muscles, plus lactate, glucose, pH and oxygen levels. The sensors can communicate with a smartphone via Bluetooth.
The fabrication is said to be completed in 20 to 30 minutes without releasing toxic chemicals or needing expensive equipment, and it costs around $1.50 per device. According to the paper, “this sustainable approach for upcycling electronic waste provides an advantageous research-based waste stream that does not require cutting-edge microfabrication facilities, expensive materials or high-calibre engineering skills.”
Koh first considered the idea of converting the CDs into sensors while doing postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois.
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