Biopolymer-based sustainable Internet of Things for smart homes

Abstract

In the infrastructure of the future, based on intelligent computerized systems and control and monitoring devices, the smart home is part of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, in addition to the need to address energy consumption, the widespread adoption of smart homes may also exacerbate the growing problem of increasing amounts of non-recyclable e-waste from IoT devices. Compared to synthetic plastics, biopolymers offer many unique advantages such as robust structure, light weight, mechanical flexibility, biocompatibility, biodegradability and renewability. Biopolymers, which are abundant in natural products such as cellulose, silk fibroin, polylactic acid, chitosan, collagen, keratin, alginate, starch and gelatin, have great promise for the production of environmentally friendly Internet of Things devices. They are ideal candidates for the use of low-temperature sol–gel coating and ink-printing processes to facilitate the development of low-cost, large-area flexible electronic devices. This work presents developments known from the literature, as well as the results of original research on the use of biopolymer materials to create flexible, wearable and textile electronic devices, such as sensors, energy storage devices and nanogenerators, soft hydrogel actuators and wireless communication devices that are promising for the Internet of Things but have not yet been implemented in smart homes. Graphical Abstract