The degradation of devices is increasingly becoming a critical consideration for the sustainability of devices used outside the body and the functionality of medical devices used inside the body. Degradable medical devices that can be implanted or injected enable new treatment approaches and monitoring concepts without the need for surgery to remove the devices. For devices used outside the body, degradable materials are sought to reduce the accumulation of waste, which is particularly important for waste streams that produce toxic degradation products, exemplified by electronic devices.

This symposium brings together expertise in all areas of degradable materials and devices, including materials discovery, device engineering, and the impact of degradation products in the body or the environment. Devices should have stable functional properties until their function is complete, which can range from days for implantable devices to several years for IoT devices. This has motivated the development of materials that degrade on demand or in specific conditions, such as self-immolative polymers and pH-dependent degradation of nanomaterials. A key question the community is seeking to address is how to achieve performance comparable to traditional devices using degradable materials. Solutions include device optimization and improved understanding of the effect of manufacturing on composites and multilayered materials. As emphasized by increasing awareness of microplastics, understanding the effect of the degradation products will be a critical future challenge. The development of degradable devices will ultimately enable unprecedented capabilities in medical diagnostics and treatments while providing a route towards cost effective and sustainable consumer devices.

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