Kombucha electronics

TL;DR

This paper explores the development of electrical circuits on kombucha mats, a cellulose-based material derived from fermented tea, aiming to create flexible, lightweight, and cost-effective wearable electronics.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electrical conductors can be created on kombucha mats, maintaining functionality after bending and stretching, enabling their use in organic wearable electronics.

Findings

Electrical circuits can be created on kombucha mats.

Circuits maintain functionality after repeated deformation.

Kombucha electronics are lighter, cheaper, and more flexible.

Abstract

A kombucha is a tea and sugar fermented by over sixty kinds of yeasts and bacteria. This symbiotic community produces kombucha mats, which are cellulose-based hydrogels. The kombucha mats can be used as an alternative to animal leather in industry and fashion once they have been dried and cured. Prior to this study, we demonstrated that living kombucha mats display dynamic electrical activity and distinct stimulating responses. For use in organic textiles, cured mats of kombucha are inert. To make kombucha wearables functional, it is necessary to incorporate electrical circuits. We demonstrate that creating electrical conductors on kombucha mats is possible. After repeated bending and stretching, the circuits maintain their functionality. In addition, the abilities and electronic properties of the proposed kombucha, such as being lighter, less expensive, and more flexible than conventional electronic systems, pave the way for their use in a diverse range of applications.