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Formability and accuracy of micropolymer compound with added nanomaterials in microinjection molding
Author(s) -
Huang C. K.,
Chiu S. W.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.21927
Subject(s) - materials science , formability , shrinkage , mold , composite material , molding (decorative) , polymer , fabrication , polypropylene , nanomaterials , nanotechnology , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
The miniaturization of components has been progressing rapidly because of developments in microelectronics, optoelectronics, and biotechnology. Recently, the use of plastic materials with added fillers has become a potential alternative because of their versatility and ease of batch fabrication. This article investigates the formability and accuracy of the polymer with added nanopowders (10–30 nm diameter) during microinjection molding. One mold with four cavities is used to illustrate the filling behavior and accuracy of the microparts. The integrated circuit microfeature illustrates the formability of the polymer with added nanopowders. Experiments show that the shrinkage is significantly reduced when the nanopowder content is increased. The polymer with 30% ZnO nanopowder content shows 58.3% less shrinkage compared to pure polypropylene. One mold with four parts and the microfeature are successfully manufactured using a custom‐made microinjection machine when nanopowders are added to the polymer. However, the microfeature with added fillers, which had a diameter of 10 μm and a length of 10–30 μm, cannot be duplicated through microinjection molding. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 1865–1874, 2005