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Thick Film Paste

QPAC® produces significantly lower residue after firing, providing improved thick-film product performance. The binder decomposes efficiently during short firing processes at relatively low temperatures. QPAC® has been used for several years in thick film pastes that provide metallization to substrates such as Aluminium Nitride and Barium Titanate. It is an ideal binder system for Cu and Ni metallization, and its benefits have been demonstrated in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and LTCC.

The QPAC® binder systems have burn-out efficiency as good or better than other binder materials such as ethyl cellulose. It can be formulated to provide the required viscosity characteristics giving it a high resolution for screen-printing applications.

Clean burning QPAC®40 Polypropylene carbonate binder is also used to formulate a front-side solar cell thick film pastes. The paste characteristics are nearly identical to commercially available pastes in characteristics, such as solids loading, rheology, and fineness of the grind.

Key Benefits:

  • Viscosities and molecular weights can be custom-tailored for a specific solution or paste requirements
  • Both grades of QPAC® are naturally “tacky,” and degrees of plasticity can be adjusted as necessary
  • Excellent green strength and adhesion to substrates
  • Decomposition is complete through three phases: solid, liquid, and vapor
  • Upon decomposition, QPAC® leaves very low ash residue with the complete burn-out of carbon.
  • Decomposes completely between 220°C – 350°C, which can be as much as 100°C below the decomposition temperatures of other binders
  • Excellent rheology properties and suspension stability

Applications include:

  • Solar Inks
  • Solar Pastes
  • Electrode Inks
  • Termination Inks
  • Nanoparticle Inks
  • Other Miscellaneous Inks

Empower Materials technical support team can provide assistance with customer formulations.