Scientists are developing a new breed of circuitry that vanishes on command, it’s the ultimate goal. Christened “transient” or “dissolving” electronics, these devices are poised to change how electronics decay, how wounds heal, and how war is fought.

 

Leading the pack is a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign material scientist named John Rogers, who heads up a team of researchers working on circuit boards that dissolve when wet. The nickname for the project? Born to Die. He claims that cell phones are never used for a couple of decades, so why have them last that long? Instead, Rogers and his team imagine devices with extremely precise use-by dates—after which they wither away like a dead plant.

 

Rogers’ team—along with Iowa State University and a few others—are building magnesium and silicone circuitry that’s printed on thin layers of silk, which dissolve over time when wet. According to Rogers, the biggest pragmatic challenge is figuring out how to plan the demise of a device accurately.

 

But while a smartphone that dissolves when it’s thrown away sounds great—and environmentally sound—Rogers’ research has implications that reach far beyond consumer tech. He is working on a transient communication device, which would come with its own water-activated kill-switch.