Issue 3, 2015

Critical factors affecting the 3D microstructural formation in hybrid conductive adhesive materials studied by X-ray nano-tomography

Abstract

Conductive adhesives are found favorable in a wide range of applications including a lead-free solder in micro-chips, flexible and printable electronics and enhancing the performance of energy storage devices. Composite materials comprised of metallic fillers and a polymer matrix are of great interest to be implemented as hybrid conductive adhesives. Here we investigated a cost-effective conductive adhesive material consisting of silver-coated copper as micro-fillers using synchrotron-based three-dimensional (3D) X-ray nano-tomography. The key factors affecting the quality and performance of the material were quantitatively studied in 3D on the nanometer scale for the first time. A critical characteristic parameter, defined as a shape-factor, was determined to yield a high-quality silver coating, leading to satisfactory performance. A ‘stack-and-screen’ mechanism was proposed to elaborate such a phenomenon. The findings and the technique developed in this work will facilitate the future advancement of conductive adhesives to have a great impact in micro-electronics and other applications.

Graphical abstract: Critical factors affecting the 3D microstructural formation in hybrid conductive adhesive materials studied by X-ray nano-tomography

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
14 Oct 2014
Accepted
17 Nov 2014
First published
20 Nov 2014

Nanoscale, 2015,7, 908-913

Author version available

Critical factors affecting the 3D microstructural formation in hybrid conductive adhesive materials studied by X-ray nano-tomography

Y. K. Chen-Wiegart, M. A. Figueroa-Santos, S. Petrash, J. Garcia-Miralles and J. Wang, Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 908 DOI: 10.1039/C4NR06068G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements