Ultraviolet hardenable, solventless electrically conductive polymeric material

Abstract

A dimensionally stable, UV hardenable polymeric composition is provided in which a conductive filler material is combined with a solventless resin formulation comprising a low viscosity epoxide compound, a photo initiator, and a thermal cure initiator. The properties of the polymeric composition may be adjusted through the addition of reactive diluents, poly alcohol flexiblizers, and acrylate based polymers, photo initiators, and thermal cure initiators. Conductive traces produced by extruding the polymeric composition through a syringe are subjected to a preliminary UV hardening step followed by deposition of an insulator layer and additional conductive traces, until all layers of conductive traces have been deposited. The structure is then subjected to heat until the conductive traces are fully cured. The formulation and the process described produce traces with bulk conductivity at least two times higher than any comparable conductive polymer, without using solvents. This process is purely additive, non-polluting and does not produce waste.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.