What is Conductive Adhesive?
Conductive adhesive is an adhesive material that exhibits conductive properties in its solid or cured state. It consists of two main components: a matrix resin and conductive fillers (conductive particles). Electrical conductivity is achieved when these conductive particles come into contact with each other, creating a pathway for electric current.
What is PTH?
PTH stands for “Plated Through Hole” (also known as electroless plating copper). It is a self-catalytic redox reaction process used in PCB manufacturing. For double-sided and multilayer PCBs, the PTH process is applied after drilling. The process works as follows: non-conductive hole walls are first treated with a palladium catalyst, then made conductive through electroless copper plating, forming the conductive portion of plated through holes.
The Cost Consideration
In PCB manufacturing, the conductive adhesive process costs only one-sixth that of the electroless copper plating (PTH) process. To reduce costs, some manufacturers lower their quality standards by using conductive adhesive technology instead of PTH technology.
Disadvantages of Conductive Adhesive Technology:
- Low Conductivity: Most conductive adhesives have a resistivity of 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁴ Ω·cm and poor thermal conductivity, which limits their use with power components.
- Poor Contact Resistance Stability: In hot and humid environments, the contact resistance of conductive adhesive increases rapidly over time.
- Inferior Mechanical Properties: The mechanical strength and durability are significantly lower compared to PTH.
- Conductive Filler Migration: The conductive particles are prone to migration, leading to reliability issues.
Benefits of PTH Technology
PTH technology prevents common quality issues such as:
- Internal loosening of the hole
- Holes becoming blocked by gel
- Resistivity variations
Quality can be verified through overheat testing and burn-in testing.
PCBSync’s Commitment
PCBSync has always prioritized quality and has never compromised on production standards. We have used PTH technology exclusively since our establishment.
For the healthy development of the PCB industry, we encourage everyone to refuse conductive adhesive technology. Please consider quality over price—extremely cheap PCBs often sacrifice reliability.
We remain committed to continuous improvement and better service. Your feedback and supervision are always welcome.
