Fabrication of membranes and microchannels in low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrate using novel water-based sacrificial carbon pastes

Overview on low temperature co-fired ceramic sensors

“…Such platforms will be the next milestone of the development of modern sensors. Reprinted from [63], with permission from Elsevier (©2012). Fig.…”

“…Delamination of LTCC structures (blue) and sacrificial carbon paste (black) during the debinding step (firing interrupted at 520°C), due to a combination of large amounts of PVP binder and high decomposition temperature thereof blocking gases evolved during debinding. Reprinted from [63], with permission from Elsevier (©2012). Fig.…”

“…Although such a vehicle is well-suited to printing small amounts of ink on thick LTCC tapes, the aggressivity of its solvent and co-solvent to tape binders [59] will result in severe tape degradation when printing thick ink layers, such as sacrificial inks [62,63] and especially onto thin tapes. This issue may be addressed using a binder / solvent chemistry with solubility parameters [59] more different from that of the LTCC tape binder, as demonstrated using hydrophilic binders such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [62] and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) [63], the latter, as EC, also requiring a plasticiser (see Fig.…”

“…This issue may be addressed using a binder / solvent chemistry with solubility parameters [59] more different from that of the LTCC tape binder, as demonstrated using hydrophilic binders such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [62] and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) [63], the latter, as EC, also requiring a plasticiser (see Fig. 3.…”

“…This is desirable in general, as it facilitates burnout upon firing; large binder amounts, in combination with a binder having a high decomposition temperature such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), can prevent venting of gases during debinding, resulting in delamination of structures (see Fig. 4) [63]. Nevertheless, a slightly higher binder and plasticiser amount vs. standard thick-film pastes can be added to avoid cracking during lamination.…”