A Universal study on the effect thermal imidization has on the physico-chemical, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of polyimide for integrated electronics applications

Polyimides (PI) are a class of dielectric polymer used in a wide range of electronics and electrical engineering applications from low-voltage microelectronics to high voltage isolation. They are well appreciated because of their excellent thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties, each of which need to be optimized uniquely depending on the end application. For example, for high-voltage applications, the final polymer breakdown field and dielectric properties must be optimized, both of which are dependent on the curing process and the final physico-chemical properties of PI. The majority of studies to date have focused on a limited set of properties of the polymer and have analyzed the effect of curing from a physicochemical-, mechanical- or electrical?centric viewpoint. This paper seeks to overcome this, unifying all of these characterizations in the same study to accurately describe the universal effect of the cure temperature on the properties of PI and at an industrial processing scale. This paper reports the widest-ranging study of its kind on the effect that cure temperature has on the physico-chemical, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of polyimide, specifically poly (pyromellitic dianhydride-co-4, 40 -oxydianiline) (PMDA/ODA). The optimization of the cure temperature is accurately studied not only regarding the degree of imidization (DOI), but also considering the entire physical properties. Particularly, the analysis elucidates the key role of the charge–transfer complex (CTC) on these properties. The results show that while the thermal and mechanical properties improve with both DOI and CTC formation, the electrical properties, particularly at high field conditions, show an antagonistic behavior enhancing with increasing DOI while degrading at higher temperatures as the CTC formation increases. The electrical characterization at low field presents an enhancement of the final PI properties likely due to the DOI. On the contrary, at high electric field, the conductivity results show an improvement at an intermediate temperature emphasizing an ideal compromise between a high DOI and PI chain packing when the thermal imidization process is performed over this equilibrium. This balance enables maximum performance to be obtained for the PI film with optimized electrical properties and, overall, optimal thermal and mechanical properties are achieved. </p

Organic−Inorganic Hybrid Films of the Sulfate Dawson Polyoxometalate, [S2W18O62] 4−, and Polypyrrole for Iodate Electrocatalysis

The Dawson-type sulfate polyoxometalate (POM) [S2W18O62]4− has successfully been entrapped in polypyrrole (PPy) films on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surfaces through pyrrole electropolymerization. Films of varying POM loadings (i.e., thickness) were grown by chronocoulometry. Film-coated electrodes were then characterized using voltammetry, revealing POM surface coverages ranging from 1.9 to 11.7 × 10−9 mol·cm−2 , and were stable over 100 redox cycles. Typical film morphology and composition were revealed to be porous using atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the effects of this porosity on POM redox activity were probed using AC impedance. The hybrid organic− inorganic films exhibited a good electrocatalytic response toward the reduction of iodate with a sensitivity of 0.769 μA·cm−2 ·μM−1 . </p

Formulation of epoxy-polyester powder coatings containing silver-modified nanoclays and evaluation of their antimicrobial properties

Current interest in antimicrobial coatings is driven by an urgent need for more effective strategies to control microbial infection. In this study, antimicrobial nanoclays were prepared by ion-exchange of sodium montmorillonite (MMT) with silver ions which have been previously reported to exhibit biocidal activity. The extent of ion exchange achieved was estimated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The silver-modified nanoclay (AgMMT) fully inhibited growth of Gram negative Escherichia coli DH5α (E. coli) over 24 hours; annealing AgMMT under typical conditions used to prepare polymer composites did not reduce its antimicrobial efficacy. However, powder coatings of AgMMT dispersed in epoxy/polyester resin exhibited no antimicrobial effect E. coli. This is believed to be caused by poor wetting of the polymer coating, which restricted the diffusion of silver ion from the coating

Compositional characterisation of metallurgical grade silicon and porous silicon nanosponge particles

Porous silicon is generally achieved through electro-chemical etching or chemical etching of bulk silicon in hydrofluoric acid based solutions. The work presented here explores the effect of a chemical etching process on a metallurgical grade silicon powder. It is found that the metallurgical grade silicon particles contain surface bound impurities that induce a porous structure formation upon reaction with the chemical etchant applied. The correlation between the resultant porous structure formed due to the material composition is examined in detail. The elemental composition is determined using a combination of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy. The porous structure is analysed using Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Three samples of the silicon particles analysed for this study include an un-etched bulk silicon powder sample and two samples of chemically etched powder. Pore formation within the particles is found to be dependent on the presence, dispersion, and local concentration of surface bound impurities within the starting powder