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This thesis is concerned primarily with the curing of epoxy resin and the effect of gamma-irradiation on the electrical properties of epoxy resin systems. The particular systems examined were a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA, Ciba Geigy MY750) epoxy resin cured using one of two hardeners. These were a hydroxyalkylated polyamine (Ciba Geigy HY956) and a dodecenyl-succinicanhydride (DDSA) with an accelerator of benzyldimethylamine. Different methods of examining the curing of the epoxy resin system have been carried out including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (I.R.), dielectric measurements, volume resistivity measurements and thermally stimulated discharge current. The results of dielectric relaxation measurements obtained during the curing of the epoxy resin system were interpreted on the basis of a model considering the growing polymer molecules to be in solution, the solvent being the unreacted monomer and hardener. The investigation of the effect of gammairradiation on the electrical properties (conduction mechanism and dielectric behaviour) of the epoxy resin system was achieved by examining the electrical properties of the fully cured epoxy resin system before and after irradiation and the results compared. To establish the electrical properties of the fully cured epoxy resin system before and after irradiation, a series of experiments which provide information about the conduction mechanism, the dielectric properties, the infrared spectra (I.R.) and the glass transition temperature (Tg) obtained from (DSC) measurements were carried out. For the epoxy resin system MY750/HYS56, it was found that the D.C. conductivity, dissipation factor and capacitance values increase, whereas the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the activation energy, E, obtained from D.C. measurements decreased for the irradiated samples. Furthermore, a modification in the I.R. spectrum in the 1600 to 1800 cm⁻¹ range due to the formation of carbonyl groups (C = O) in the irradiated sample has been observed. However in the case of epoxy resin system MY750/DDSA, it was found that the dissipation factor and capacitance values decrease, whilst the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the activation energy obtained from dielectric measurements increased for the irradiated samples.

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Isotropically conductive adhesives (ICAs) and inks are potential candidates for low cost interconnect materials and widely used in electrical/electronic packaging applications. Silver (Ag)filled ICAs and inks are the most popular due to their high conductivity and good reliability. However, the price of Ag is a significant issue for the wider exploitation of these materials in low cost, high volume applications such as printed electronics. In addition, there is a need to develop systems compatible with temperature sensitive substrates through the use of alternative materials and heating methods. Copper (Cu) is considered as a more cost-effective filler for ICAs and in this work, Cu powders were treated to remove the oxide layer and then protected with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM). The coating was found to be able to limit the re-oxidation of the Cumicron particles. The treated Cu powderswerecombined with one of two different adhesive resins to form ICAs that were stencil printed onto glass substrates before curing. The use of conventional and microwave assisted heating methods under an inert atmosphere for the curing of the Cu loaded ICAs was investigated in detail. The samples were characterised for electrical performance, microstructure and shrinkage as a function of curing temperature (80-150°C) and time. Tracks with electrical conductivity comparable to Ag filled adhesives were obtained for both curing methods and with both resins. It was found that curing could be accelerated and/or carried out at lower temperature with the addition of microwave radiation for one adhesive resin, but the other showed almost no absorption indicating a difference in curing mechanism for the two formulations.