Biodegradable materials represent a promising path toward green and sustainable electronics on a global scale in the future. Plastics play a pivotal role in contemporary electronics, including printed circuit boards (PCB), where petroleum‐based polymers such as epoxies form the base insulating substrate. In this review paper, several promising bio‐based alternatives to conventional PCB materials that are recently developed and investigated are stated and discussed regarding their properties, practical utilization, and further perspective. The given list includes polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose acetate (CA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and others, with the development of PLA‐based PCB substrates being the furthest along regarding the use in industry practice. Yet, all of the provided solutions are still only suitable for prototypes or low‐cost electronics without high‐reliability requirements. The reason for this is inferior mechanical and thermal properties of biopolymers compared to traditional petroleum‐based polymers. Further development is therefore essential, including new types of reinforcements and other additives. However, as Life Cycle Assessment analyses discussed in the paper show, biopolymers are capable of significantly reducing the environmental impact and are likely to play a major role in shaping a sustainable path for the electronics industry, which will be a key challenge in the current decade.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase the reliability of manufactured electronics and to reveal reliability significant factors. The experiments were focused especially on the influence of the reflow oven parameters presented by a heating factor. Design/methodology/approach: The shear strength of the surface mount device (SMD) resistors and their joint resistance were analyzed. The resistors were assembled with two Sn/Ag/Cu-based and one Bi-based solder pastes, and the analysis was done for several values of the heating factor and before and after isothermal aging. The measurement of thickness of intermetallic compounds was conducted on the micro-sections of the solder joints. Findings: The shear strength of solder joints based on the Sn/Ag/Cu-based solder alloy started to decline after the heating factor reached the value of 500 s · K, whereas the shear strength of the solder alloy based on the Bi alloy (in the measured range) always increased with an increase in the heating factor. Also, the Bi-based solder joints showed shear strength increase after isothermal aging in contrast to Sn/Ag/Cu-based solder joints, which showed shear strength decrease. Originality/value: The interpretation of the results of such a comprehensive measurement leads to a better understanding of the mutual relation between reliability and other technological parameters such as solder alloy type, surface finish and parameters of the soldering process.

The rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has increased the demand for efficient methods to assess the state of health (SoH) of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Accurate and prompt evaluations are essential for safety, battery life extension, and performance optimization. While traditional techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are commonly used to monitor battery degradation, acoustic emission (AE) analysis is emerging as a promising complementary method. AE’s sensitivity to mechanical changes within the battery structure offers significant advantages, including speed and non-destructive assessment, enabling evaluations without disassembly. This capability is particularly beneficial for diagnosing second-life batteries and streamlining decision-making regarding the management of used batteries. Moreover, AE enhances diagnostics by facilitating early detection of potential issues, optimizing maintenance, and improving the reliability and longevity of battery systems. Importantly, AE is a non-destructive technique and belongs to the passive method category, as it does not introduce any external energy into the system but instead detects naturally occurring acoustic signals during the battery’s operation. Integrating AE with other analytical techniques can create a comprehensive tool for continuous battery condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, which is crucial in applications where battery reliability is vital, such as in EVs and energy storage systems. This review not only examines the potential of AE techniques in battery health monitoring but also underscores the need for further research and adoption of these techniques, encouraging the academic community and industry professionals to explore and implement these methods.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present a review of the tin whisker growth phenomena. The study focuses mainly on whisker growth in a corrosive climate when the main inducing factor of the whisker growth is oxidation. The tin whisker phenomenon is still a big challenge in lead-free reflow soldering technology. Modern lead-free alloys and surface finishes with high tin content are considered to be possible sources of whisker development, also the evolution of electronic devices towards further complexity and miniaturization points to an escalation of the reliability risks. Design/methodology/approach: The present work was based on a worldwide literature review of the substantial previous works in the past decade, as well as on the results and experience of the authors in this field. Findings: The effect of corrosion on tin whisker growth has been under-represented in reports of mainstream research; however, in the past five years, significant results were obtained in the field which raised the corrosion phenomena from being a side effect category into one of the main inducing factors. This paper summarizes the most important findings of this field. Practical implications: This literature review provides engineers and researchers with a better understanding of the role of corrosion in tin whisker growth and the current challenges in tin whisker mitigation. Originality/value: The unique challenges and future research directions about the tin whisker phenomenon were shown to highlight rarely discussed risks and problems in lead-free soldering reliability.