Synchronous curable deoxidizing capability of epoxy–anhydride adhesive: Deoxidation quantification via spectroscopic analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACTThermoset resins have been extensively utilized as an adhesive for electronic devices. In particular, semiconductor packaging materials between chips/substrates require electrical interconnections by using deoxidizing agents along with thermoset adhesives. In this study, a facile combination of hydroxyl‐functionalized epoxy and cyclohexane‐structured cyclic anhydrides produced curable acidic moieties, thereby allowing synchronous deoxidizing and curing without the use of a deoxidizing agent. By contrast, unitary cyclic anhydrides rarely presented acidic moieties, probably due to their rapid networkable reactivity caused by structural flexibility once opened, which was detected and quantified by spectroscopic analyses. This binary system in the absence of additional deoxidizing agents achieved the complete wetting of common Sn‐based solders via chip bonding systems due to the generated acidic moieties. The binary mixture also showed an increased glass transition temperature of 110 °C and enhanced Young's modulus of 1.6 GPa, relative to the ternary mixture (85 °C and 0.8 GPa) comprising a deoxidizing agent. This discovery is beneficial in terms of the simplification of composition design and mechanical robustness of solderable adhesives. Quantification via spectroscopic studies can also help anticipate the deoxidizing capability of binary and ternary systems at different temperatures for various bondable and solderable applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46639.