The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a joint research team led by Dr. Sangho Cho of the Extreme Materials Research Center and Dr. Yongho Joo of the Functional Composite Materials Research Center has developed a polymer material that enables high-performance data storage while completely degrading within a few days after being immersed in water.
The data storage material is biocompatible and stable enough to be implanted in the human body. The onset of degradation can be controlled by adjusting the thickness and composition of the protective layer. Once this layer dissolves, the material naturally degrades in water within approximately three days, leaving no residue.
Although water-soluble electronic devices have been developed previously, they typically suffer from poor data storage, limited performance, and vulnerability to repeated mechanical stress. To overcome these issues, the KIST research team designed a new molecular structure (PCL-TEMPO), combining TEMPO—an organic molecule capable of storing electrical information—with polycaprolactone, a biodegradable polymer. This innovative design enables electrical signal storage and natural degradation within a single molecular system.
Data storage devices made from this material demonstrated excellent signal discrimination, successfully distinguishing ON and OFF states over more than one million cycles. They also reliably retained stored data for over 10,000 seconds. Moreover, the devices showed no degradation after more than 250 write-erase cycles or 3,000 bends.
The data storage technology is not limited to implantable medical devices; it also shows potential for use in disposable healthcare monitoring systems, surgically implanted devices that naturally degrade post-operation, eco-friendly data storage units, and single-use military reconnaissance tools. Notably, it can be absorbed by the human body without requiring surgical removal, significantly reducing patient discomfort and medical costs. In addition, the technology addresses the growing issue of electronic waste and supports global efforts toward carbon neutrality.
“This achievement is technologically significant as it marks the first example of integrating physical self-destruction into high-performance organic storage devices,” said Dr. Sangho Cho. “In the future, our goal is to develop it into ‘smart transient electronics’ by incorporating self-healing and light-responsive functions, accelerating the commercialization of next-generation bioelectronic and eco-friendly devices.”
Source: KIST
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