Recycling organic semiconductors: Toward sustainable emerging electronics

Abstract

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) have emerged as essential building blocks for next-generation electronics due to their intrinsic mechanical softness, solution processability, and compatibility with flexible, stretchable, and wearable platforms. However, despite their expanding applications, the environmental and economic implications of OSCs throughout their entire lifecycle, including energyand solvent-intensive synthesis as well as end-of-life disposal, remain insufficiently addressed. Indeed, the environmental footprint of OSCs is intensified not only by their chemically robust backbones, which resist natural degradation and complicate waste management, but also by synthesis processes that generate large volumes of toxic solvent-based waste. In this Perspective, we first highlight the growing importance of OSC recycling, from both environmental and economic standpoints, as it relates to current organic electronics. We then review recent advances in OSC recycling, encompassing both molecular-level strategies based on chemical depolymerization/repolymerization and materials-level approaches involving selective extraction and reuse. Finally, we discuss the key remaining challenges and propose a critical outlook that emphasizes not only the technical and scientific advancement of OSC recycling technologies but also the adoption of a recyclability-by-design approach. Together, these efforts are essential to enable sustainable organic electronic systems.