ABSTRACT

The use of printed circuit board is unavoidable within the electrical and electronic industries. Various types and models exist, all made from synthetic substrates. The environmental impact of discards of printed circuit boards as well as the need to go green globally poses challenges to the printed circuit board manufacturing industry. In the attendant search for wider utility value for agrowaste based particle boards, this work presents the research of utilizing agrowaste based particle boards as virgin substrates for the production of printed circuit board wafers. The agrowaste materials were pretreated, ground and pressed into boards using a Novalac resin Melamine formaldehyde. After cutting to sample sizes, the samples were cleaned and electroless deposition was carried out on the boards using nonprecious metal catalyst as against the conventional precious metal catalystPalladium. Material strength characterization of the boards was carried out to determine the durability of samples when in use. Scanning electron microscopy of the samples showed good deposition and acceptable roughened topography which compared well with that of a commercial grade sample. A simple conductivity test was done with an ammeter to prove the transfer of electrical current at the surface of the substrates. This phase of work concludes that there can be deposition on natural waste materials and that going green in the area of circuitry is achievable. Optimization of process conditions will create another niche for the use of conversion products from agro waste discards while giving the products a valueadded status.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Printed circuit boards are boards used in the connection of lead lines of various electronic

parts/components. Such important circuitry parts like resistors, capacitors, transistors are

housed and connected using metalclad nonconducting substrates and the whole network

is known as a printed circuit board1. These boards are made in three basic structural

classes, i with a shield or earth plate; ii with a multilayer structure; and iii as a thin

film, single layer. They are pathways made of copper or some other conducting material

that is etched or laminated onto a rigid or flexible surface. The printed means that the

material is deposited onto the substrate and the discrete wires are not used.

The search for printed circuit boards dates back to the 19th century when telegraph,

telephone and radio inventions were being recognized as practical devices for everyday

use and they all required wiring connections2. For example, the increasingly complex

radio circuits needed an alternative wiring technology which ought to be simpler than the

existing tedious and error prone wiring technology. As a result, in 1903, Albert Hanson

3 filed a printed wire patent which was to solve the problem of multiwire connection

dilemma. His patent clearly described the concept of doublesided throughhole circuitry.

This first circuit pattern touched on so many concepts that are seen to be of modern

origin.

Printed circuit board is synonymous to printed wiring board which is undoubtedly the

most common type of printed circuit. It is a copperclad dielectric material with

conductors etched on the external or internal layers. It is subdivided into singlesided,

doublesided, and multilayer boards. ...Get Complete Material.