Chip-free wireless sensors could reduce environmental impact of electronic tags
A more sustainable new form of electronic tag could help reduce the vast environmental impact caused by single-use RFID technologies, researchers say. Engineers from the University of Glasgow have developed the new wireless tag system, which can identify objects and measure temperature without the use of microchips. Instead, the tags use inexpensive coils and a sensing material made from a form of silicon rubber called PDMS and carbon fibers. The coils, smaller than the ones found in credit cards, absorb electromagnetic signals from a hand-held reader using electromagnetic waves. The researchers say their new, less wasteful tags could help reduce the retail sector's reliance on RFID chips, which uses more than 10 billion tags each year. Most tags are used just once, and end up in a landfill without appropriate recycling of the electronics.
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