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BOOK EXCERPT: The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Encapsulating Sustainability for Electronics, Chapter 4
December 31, 2024 | I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 1 minute
The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Encapsulating Sustainability for Electronics, by Beth Turner, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions
Chapter 4: Sustainability
I like to think that anyone considering using encapsulation resins to ruggedize electronics is contributing in some way towards sustainability targets. The thing all ruggedizing materials have in common is that they work to extend the lifetime and improve performance; surely that ensures fewer defects, fewer recalls and ultimately less waste? When it comes to encapsulation resins, we can do better than that, and the future looks both optimistic and exciting.
Bio-based Supply Chain
Many of the traditional raw material feedstocks for encapsulation resins rely on the use of fossil fuels. Today, there are a plethora of opportunities within this supply chain to source bio-based raw materials. Bio-based materials are completely or partially derived from living organisms, for example crops. As they come from renewable resources, bio-based products can help reduce CO2 emissions and offer other advantages such as lower toxicity. Ultimately, reducing supply chain reliance from fossil fuels towards bio-based renewable feedstocks could be one way of helping to reduce the impact of climate change. It is possible, and easy, to procure bio-based epoxy resins, modifiers, and cure agents. There are a huge number of opportunities to source bio-based polyols, crosslinkers, as well as modifiers. The emergence of bio-based additives for use with these cross-linking chemistries is also on the rise. Companies often use regulated certification systems to ensure sustainability within the supply chain; one example is the ISCC plus certification scheme that aims to prove no deforestation has occurred to produce the biomaterial.
From my experience, there is a general concern that bio-based materials must have some compromise when it comes to performance.
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