Electron beam curing of acrylated epoxy resins for anisotropic conductive film application

Radiation curable acrylated epoxy oligomer was found to be an effective resin system for application to electron beams (EB) on curing of anisotropic conducting film. To study curing degree as a function of EB dosage, we irradiated bisphenol-A type acrylate epoxy oligomer samples with doses of 5 to 600 kGy of EB. To investigate the effect of a metal barrier for potential industrial application, a 3 mm thick Al plate was placed in front of the samples, and the curing parameters were compared with the ones irradiated without an Al plate. As the dosage of the EB irradiation was increased, the glass transition temperature of the sample ranged from 46.8 to 62.2 degrees C for the epoxy composites without placing an Al plate, and from 46.4 to 64.1 degrees C for their counterparts with a 3 mm thick Al plate. These results confirm that enhancement of the curing degree with increasing EB irradiation is possible even in the presence of a metal plate. The scanning electron microscope images of the fracture surfaces are presented as evidence of the morphological changes of the EB cured epoxy samples. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.