• Clean Technology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.306-313
• /
• 2011

Flux or solder is used in soldering process for manufacturing electronic parts such as printed circuit boards (PCB). After soldering process, residual flux and solder paste on the parts should be removed since their residuals could cause performance degradation or failure of parts due to their corrosion and electric leakage. Ozone depletion substances such as 1,1,1- trichloroethane (TCE) and HCFC-141b have widely been using for removal of residual flux and solder paste after soldering process In manufacturing of electronic parts until now. In this study, non-aqueous cleaning agents without flash point were developed and applied to industrial field for replacement of cleaning agents with ozone depletion. In order to develop non-aqueous cleaning agents without ethers, esters, fluoride- type solvents. And their physical properties and cleaning abilities were evaluated, and they were applied to industrial fields for cleaning of flux and solder on the PCB. And vacuum distillation apparatus were operated to determine their operating conditions and recycling yields for recycling of used cleaning agents formulated in this study. As a result of physical properties measurement of our formulated cleaning agents, they were expected to have good wetting and penetrating power since their surface tensions were relatively low as 18.0~20.4 dyne/$cm^2$ and their wetting indices are relatively large. And some cleaning agents holding fluoride-type solvents as their components did not have any flash point and they seemed to be safe in their handling and storage. The cleaning experimental results showed that some cleaning agents were better in their cleaning of flux and solder paste than 1,1,1-TCE and HCFC-141b. And industrial application results of the formulated cleaning agents for cleaning PCB indicated that they can be applicable to industry due to their good cleaning capability in comparison with HCFC-141b. The recycling experiments of the used formulated cleaning agents through a vacuum distillation apparatus also showed that their 91.9~97.5% could be recycled with its proper operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2017

Cobalt silicide was used as a counter electrode in order to confirm its reliability in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices. 100 nm-Co/300 nm-Si/quartz was formed by an evaporator and cobalt silicide was formed by vacuum heat treatment at $700^{\circ}C$ for 60 min to form approximately 350 nm-CoSi. This process was followed by etching in $80^{\circ}C$-30% $H_2SO_4$ to remove the cobalt residue on the cobalt silicide surface. Also, for the comparison against Pt, we prepared a 100 nm-Pt/glass counter electrode. Cobalt silicide was used for the counter electrode in order to confirm its reliability in DSSC devices and maintained for 0, 168, 336, 504, 672, and 840 hours at $80^{\circ}C$. The photovoltaic properties of the DSSCs employing cobalt silicide were confirmed by using a simulator and potentiostat. Cyclic-voltammetry, field emission scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry analyses were used to confirm the catalytic activity, microstructure, and composition, respectively. The energy conversion efficiency (ECE) as a function of time and ECE of the DSSC with Pt and CoSi counter electrodes were maintained for 504 hours. However, after 672 hours, the ECEs decreased to a half of their initial values. The results of the catalytic activity analysis showed that the catalytic activities of the Pt and CoSi counter electrodes decreased to 64% and 57% of their initial values, respectively(after 840 hours). The microstructure analysis showed that the CoSi layer improved the durability in the electrolyte, but because the stress concentrates on the contact surface between the lower quartz substrate and the CoSi layer, cracks are formed locally and flaking occurs. Thus, deterioration occurs due to the residual stress built up during the silicidation of the CoSi counter electrode, so it is necessary to take measures against these residual stresses, in order to ensure the reliability of the electrode.