Conductive Compounds

AGCL-500 is a unique electrically conductive silver chloride filled ink designed for screen printing medical sensor applications. AGCL-500 can be easily blended with AG-500 silver conductive ink in order to achieve intermediate resistance values. AGCL-500 is extremely tough, scuff resistant and has excellent adhesion to polyester, polyimide and other plastic substrates. Crease resistance is outstanding when used on these substrates.

AGCL-500 is designed to give a good balance between long open time on screens and short drying time in subsequent drying processes. The solvent used in AGCL-500 is essentially non-hazardous, non-toxic and non-flammable. AGCL-500 is compatible with UV-3201 and UV-1006 dielectrics, EP-600 two part conductive epoxy adhesive and UV-3010 component encapsulant and conformal coating.

TYPICAL PROPERTIES

Appearance: Thixotropic White/Off White Coloured Paste
Viscosity
Brookfield #6 spindle, 10 rpm: 13,000 cps
Brookfield #6 spindle, 100 rpm: 6,500 cps
Thixotropic Ratio: 2.0
Drying Schedule: 4 to 7 minutes @ 145°C (May be longer or shorter depending upon oven heat profile and air flow)
Shelf Life: 6 Months in unopened container
Total % NV Solids: 68% ±2%
Hegman Gage: <50.0 µ
Volume Resisivity (ref ASTM D-257): N/A
Surface Resistivity
Blended 80:20 with AG-500 Silver Ink: 4,000 ohms
Blended 50:50 with AG-500 Silver Ink: 100 ohms

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

For screening, a monofilament polyester (157 to 280 mesh) screen is recommended, with emulsion thickness between .001" and .004". A polyurethane squeegee with a Shore 'A' durometer between 60 and 70 is recommended. Always mix ink thoroughly before using, as silver chloride will settle quickly to the bottom.

All mixing blades, flood bars and spatulas must not have metal on the surface. Metals, especially aluminium, react aggressively with silver chloride. If metal flood bars and utensils are used, they must be wrapped completely with an inert tape such as Teflon tape.

Care should be taken to minimise material exposure to light. Yellow lights, screens or UV filters should be utilised above presses where material is being printed. Humidity needs to be kept to moderate levels, as moisture can also affect silver chloride over longer periods of time.

For thinning and cleanup, use butyl cellesolve acetate or dibasic ester solvents. If faster drying time is required, contact us for solvent recommendations.

If solvent based inks are left on screens for any length of time, the ink will gradually thicken as solvent evaporates. If ink is to be left on an inactive press for any length of time, solvent evaporation can be minimised by pooling the ink into a small area instead of leaving it spread out over a large area. Pooling the ink reduces the surface area, thus slowing the drying process. Always check the viscosity of ink that has been recovered from a screen and add small amounts of solvent while mixing thoroughly to restore viscosity. Solvent can be added to reclaim thickened ink as long as the ink has not dried and hardened completely.

It is essential that all residual solvent be removed from this ink once it is applied. Incomplete drying will cause the ink to appear dry on the surface while trapping solvent underneath the surface. Over time, this trapped solvent will migrate out of the ink and can cause adhesion problems with any material (such as dielectrics) applied over the ink.

To check completeness of drying, evaluate the point to point resistance along one of the screened conductive paths after one pass through the drying oven or one cycle in a batch drying oven. Run the substrate through another drying cycle. Measure the point to point resistance again along the same path and compare it to the original reading. If the resistance decreases by less than 10%, then the ink is essentially dry after the first drying cycle or pass through the oven. If the resistance decreases by more than 10%, then more drying time is required to completely remove the solvent.

LIGHT SENSITIVE MATERIAL - DO NOT EXPOSE TO LIGHT FOR LONG PERIODS
DO NOT ALLOW MATERIAL TO CONTACT METAL

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The above guidelines are intended to provide a starting point for evaluation. Conductive Compounds Inc recognises that each customer's manufacturing process is unique and we can customise the rheology of AGCL-500 to conform to the process parameters. We are also available to provide on-site technical assistance to resolve your processing issues. Call us to discuss your application in more detail.