Dow Introduces First Solventless Silicone Conformal Coating

With UV and moisture dual-cure for high-volume electronics manufacturing.

Dow introduced at IPC APEX EXPO 2020 the new DOWSIL CC-8030 UV and Moisture Dual Cure Conformal Coating, the industry's first solventless silicone conformal coating with a UV and moisture dual-cure system for high throughputs.

This new environmentally responsible silicone technology promotes sustainability, health and safety while reducing processing costs through automated spraying and fast, energy-efficient UV curing.

Other silicones support UV curing, but none are conformal coatings with a low enough viscosity for spray coating and with a secondary moisture cure for shadowed areas. The new DOWSIL product also offers more reliable protection against stress and thermal cycling versus competitive materials.

Brian J. Chislea, senior electronics application engineer at Dow, will discussed the new DOWSIL CC-8030 UV and Moisture Dual Cure Conformal Coating during two poster sessions at IPC APEX EXPO.

“Dow has long been an innovative leader and developer of leading-edge conformal coating technologies that address our customers’ most pressing needs,” said Chislea. “DOWSIL CC-8030 Coating is an excellent example of this. “By listening closely to our customers, we responded with this first-of-its-kind material that can help electronics manufacturers meet their sustainability and productivity goals, and more.” 

DOWSIL CC-8030 UV and Moisture Dual Cure Conformal Coating is an environmentally progressive solution for protecting rigid printed circuit boards (PCBs), sensitive electronic components and fine-pitch designs from environments with airborne contaminants.

This high-performance silicone conformal coating is formulated without benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene or xylene (BTEX) solvents. The new DOWSIL Conformal Coating also has a low modulus for delicate components and high elongation for reliable protection against stress. To provide an even greater level of PCB protection, DOWSIL CC-8030 UV and Moisture Dual Cure Conformal Coating can be applied in multiple layers. Compared to leading acrylated urethane UV cure coatings, the new silicone-based Dow technology provides superior protection against thermal cycling.

A soft, medium-viscosity silicone, DOWSIL CC-8030 UV and Moisture Dual Cure Conformal Coating has a rheology that is designed for high-throughput spray coating. Its dual-cure technology combines speed with the completeness of coverage for reduced work-in-process inventory.

With UV curing from a standard mercury broad-spectrum lamp at 300 mW/cm^2, the DOWSIL coating is tack-free after less than 10 seconds. Compared to thermal ovens that cure in minutes, UV ovens are also smaller and consume less energy. Further, the new coating’s secondary alkoxy moisture curing reaches any shadowed areas where UV light can’t penetrate, or UV curing is otherwise incomplete. Moisture curing also supports thicker coating and won’t add stress from thermal cycling.

References: https://www.dow.com/en-us/news/dow-introduces-first-solventless-silicone-conformal-coating-with-uv-and-moisture-dual-cure.html