Isotropic conductive adhesives (ICA's) are usually composites of adhesive resins with conductive fillers (mainly silver flakes). The adhesive pastes before cure usually have low electrical conductivity. The conductive adhesives become highly conductive only after the adhesives are cured and solidified. The mechanisms of conductivity achievement in conductive adhesives were discussed. Experiments were carefully designed in order to determine the roles of adhesive shrinkage and silver (Ag) flake lubricant removal on adhesive conductivity achievement during cure. The conductivity establishment of the selected adhesive pastes and the cure shrinkage of the corresponding adhesive resins during cure were studied. Then conductivity developments of some metallic fillers and ICA pastes with external pressures were studied by using a specially designed test device. In addition, conductivity, resin cure shrinkage, and Ag flake lubricant behavior of an ICA which was cured at room temperature (25 C) were investigated. Based on the results, it was found that cure shrinkage of the resin, rather than lubricant removal, was the prerequisite for conductivity development of conductive adhesives. In addition, an explanation of how cure shrinkage could cause conductivity achievement of conductive adhesives during cure was proposed in this paper.

Conductive adhesives are composites of polymer matrixes and metal fillers (conductive elements). Silver (Ag) flakes are widely used as fillers for electrically conductive adhesives (ECA's). Generally, there is a thin layer of organic lubricant coated on the commercial Ag flake surface. This lubricant layer is needed for eliminating the Ag particle agglomeration while dispersing the Ag filler into the polymeric resin. Therefore the lubricant influences rheology, conductivity, and other properties of ECA's. The nature of the lubricant on a Ag flake and the interaction between the lubricant and the Ag flake surface were studied by diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIR). Thermal decomposition of the lubricant was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In addition, the effects of some chemical compounds on lubricant removal and the enhancement of conductivity of the ECA were also investigated. It was found that 1) a chemical bonding was formed on the Ag flake surface between the lubricant and Ag; 2) the short chain acids replaced the long chain lubricants; 3) an ether and a poly(ethylene glycol) enhanced electrical conductivity by partially removing the Ag flake lubricants.

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Several extensions and complicating effects in the vibrational technique for the measurement of stress in films are discussed in this, the second part of the study. The principles of the technique, based on ideal membrane behavior, and some applications were presented in the companion paper. Several complicating effects can be important due to deviation from ideal behavior. For low-density polymer membranes, air loading can shift the natural frequencies considerably. This effect is studied by measuring stress at different air pressures and compared to a theoretical model for the correction of air loading effects. The effect of bending stiffness can be important for thick and stiff films. This effect has been studied systematically and it is shown that it can be used to measure the stress and stiffness of the film simultaneously. A powerful extension of the technique to the measurement of anisotropic biaxial stresses is also demonstrated.