Silver-plated graphite powder, poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiolphene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), and organic additives were employed to reduce the electrical resistivities of epoxy-based adhesives. A novel silver self-activated electroless deposition using conductive graphite particles as filler in electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) was investigated to develop high-performance ECAs with low silver content. Adding silver-plated graphite powders to the conductive adhesives reduced their electrical resistivities by at least two orders of magnitude compared with those filled with graphite powders only. The silver content of the adhesive with PEDOT:PSS decreased to 24.7 wt%, and its resistivity was 1.2 × 10 −3 cm. The best electrical resistivity of the epoxy-based conductive adhesives with 70 wt% silver-plated graphite powders was 4.36 × 10 −4 cm. The weight percentage of silver in this epoxy-based adhesive decreased to 43.3 wt%, which is much lower than that of conventional silver conductive adhesives. Polymer-based conductive adhesives have been utilized widely in many applications, for example, electronic interconnects, lightemitting diode and photovoltaic technologies.1 Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) have acquired prominence as potential substitutes for solder interconnects. They not only provide a lead-free replacement for solder, but these highly conductive materials also offer feasible alternatives to problems arising from insufficient solder. ECAs are chiefly composed of organic/polymeric binder matrices and conductive fillers. Intrinsically conductive polymers can conduct electric current without requiring addition of conductive media, and extrinsically conductive polymers require the addition of conductive media in order to be more electrically conductive. Extrinsically conductive polymers are divided into isotropic conductive adhesives and anisotropic conductive adhesives according to filler concentration.
2The electrical resistivities of extrinsically conductive polymers are influenced by the amount of conductive fillers, degree of resin curing and cross-link density, diameter and shape of conductive fillers, degree of dispersion, and so forth.3-8 Poly(p-phenylene), polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, and polyacetylene are conjugated conductive polymers. Their electrical conductivities can be increased dramatically by dopants. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The conducting polymer polypoly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiolphene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is usually synthesized using an electrochemical method or by chemical synthesis. Particularly promising results have been obtained with electrochemically synthesized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PE-DOT) doped with PF 6 or with other small-molecule dopants; the room-temperature conductivity of PEDOT-PF 6 films could reach 200-300 S cm −1 .
16Conductive fillers confer excellent electrical properties to ECAs, and polymeric matrixes impart their physical and mechanical properties. Therefore, selection of suitable materials and prepara...