Table of contents

The International Conference on Electronic and Advanced Materials (ICEAM) 2021 was held online on the 2^nd November 2021 streaming from Digital Management and Development Centre, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP). This conference was organized by the Center of Excellence Geopolymer & Green Technology (CEGeoGTech), UniMAP, with Tin Solder Technology Research Group (TSTRG) MALAYSIA and The Electronics Packaging Research Society (EPRS) as co-organizer. The conference was also sponsored by the Tin Industry (R&D) Board. The conference was held virtually in order to follow the standard operation procedure imposed by the Malaysian government due to the COVID-19 movement control order and travel restriction.

The conference serves as the best platform for sharing and exchanging ideas on Advanced Materials topics such as electronic materials, ceramic materials and geopolymer, bio-materials, polymers and rubber, and composites. The conference aimed to provide a platform for scientists, researchers, and students in the related field to discuss current research progress, challenges, and practical solutions that could be adopted to keep abreast in this challenging world. The program provides networking and cooperation amongst academicians, scientists, researchers, and engineers from the materials sciences and engineering fields.

List of Organizing committee is available in this pdf.

All papers published in this volume have been reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

• Type of peer review: Double Anonymous

• Conference submission management system: Morressier

• Number of submissions received: 42

• Number of submissions sent for review: 42

• Number of submissions accepted: 42

• Acceptance Rate (Submissions Accepted / Submissions Received × 100): 100

• Average number of reviews per paper: 2

• Total number of reviewers involved: 35

• Contact person for queries:

Name: Muhammad Firdaus Mohd Nazeri

Email: firdausnazeri@unimap.edu.my

Affiliation: Muhammad Firdaus Mohd NazeriCenter of Excellence Geopolymer & Green Technology (CEGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 02600, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia

Wafer fabrication technology has been seeing exponential growth in recent years. This development is driven by the demand for better reliability, superior performance, and lower cost of electronic consumer products. Generally, the standard soft-soldering wafer backside metallization multilayer stack is AuAs/Ag/Ni/Ag. The present backside metallization being developed is Ti/NiV/Ag as the cost of Ti is almost neglectable compared to Au. However, this new wafer backside metallization leads to increased remnants remaining on the dicing tape after die pickup. The reduced effective area of the die backside surface may cause adhesion issues in the subsequent die attach process. In realizing this essential phase, in pre-assembly process optimization has been carried out using some assessment on the process flow and data analysis through statistical analyses image and measurement of wafer skeleton remnants was taken showing a reduction from 70μm to 40μm in width. This method shows that skipping the baking process in the pre-assembly process will undoubtedly lessen the adhesion with the back metal with mounting tape. Without compromising the saw quality will indeed give a reduced wafer remnant. Henceforth, skipping baking in the pre-assembly process will significantly reduce wafer remnants and further improve die attach process.

The relationship between a process and mechanical properties are important in understanding the behaviour of a material under certain conditions. This indicate that mechanical properties of the materials can be modified through certain processing. Hence, this paper investigates the effect of 60% thickness reduction of Sn-Cu alloy in thermomechanical treatment on the localized micromechanical properties. A bar-shape of Sn-Cu solder alloy is subjected to heat treatment at 30°C, 60°C, 90°C, 120°C and 150°C for 20 minutes, followed by 60% thickness reduction via compression process. Sample without compression process was used as control sample. Nanoindentation approach was used to characterize the localized micromechanical properties of the samples. The results show the hardness value for control samples reduced approximately 56%, from 181 MPa at 30°C to 79 MPa at 150°C. Reduced modulus of control sample has shown similar decreasing trend from 149 GPa at 30°C to 85 GPa at 150°C, approximately 43% changes. Lower changes in hardness and reduced modulus observed for thermomechanical treated sample approximately 20% and 18%, respectively. These findings show that thermomechanical treatment has given significant effect on the localized micromechanical properties of Sn-Cu solder alloy.

This study investigated the effects of adding titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) nanoparticles into Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu (SAC) lead-free solder alloy on the thermal properties and wettability. In comparison with SAC lead-free solder without addition of nanoparticles, the melting temperature is very similar and comparable. The solidus temperature is in the range of 217.1 to 217.2 °C with the addition of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. The results shows that the addition of 0.25-1.0 wt% of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles caused the liquidus temperature to decrease from 222.4 to 220.5 °C. The spreading area of SAC-xTiO₂-xAl₂O3 lead-free solder increases from 5.7 to 7.1mm at 0-0.5wt% of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. The contact angle decreased from 66.09° to 46.84° when the composition of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ increases from 0-0.5wt%.

Conductive polymers commonly used as fillers to enhance electrical properties of composite's system. However, the low conductivity performance of conducting polymers, namely poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (4-styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS), constrains their utilization in the field of conductive textile technology in inventing an advanced textiles' fabric. Maintaining the stability of impregnated PEDOT: PSS fabrics at the microscopic level remains doubtful and unclear. Nowadays, researchers are actively pursuing the introduction of secondary dopants into PEDOT: PSS dispersion to overcome this challenge. In this study, a conductive PEDOT: PSS fabric via immersion technique was prepared and its effects on conductivity upon doped-secondarily by two different dopants; hydrochloric (HCl) and p-toluenesulfonic (p-TSA) acids was revealed. The volume percentage (vol.%) of the secondary dopants (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 vol.%) were varied to find the optimal vol.% for getting the great value of conductivity of the doped PEDOT: PSS fabrics. These fabrics were then analyzed by using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to investigate their conductivity performances chemically. It is found that the conductivity values were affected by varying the strength of the acids. It is concluded, that the 7 vol.% and 5 vol.% of HCl and p-TSA, respectively, gave the highest electrical conductivity values of the PEDOT: PSS fabrics. These findings can be used to provide direction and guidance to researchers in advancing the fields of textiles, electronics and advanced materials.

The study present the utilization of natural dye from onion skin on tinted film. Tinted film for the car and helmet visor is produced from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) as the main material. However, tinted films that do not meet the Visible Light Transmission (VLT) values authorized for automobiles are being used by some people. Tinted films are also often manufactured using synthetic dyes, which have negative environmental impacts. Thus, the objective of this study was to prepare the tinted film for car and helmet visors that can comply with safety standards (MS1). Tinted film produced must comply with the percentage of VLT allowed which is 30%, 50% and 70%. Synthetic dyes, which are frequently used in the plastic manufacturing sector, will be substituted with natural colours in this study. PET is excellent for manufacturing plastic films because it has a number of benefits, including the ability to act as an amorphouse and semi-crystalline material. Natural dye extracted from onion skin is a good dye because there are Auxochrome groups. By choosing natural dyes over other options, we are helping to protect the environment and reducing human reliance on toxic chemicals.

Ball grid array (BGA) technology is one of the technologies used in surface mount technology (SMT). It provides many interconnection points via the solder ball and thus give advantages such as good heat dissipation, improved the PCB design, BGA package become robust and reliable. In electronic industry, the reliability of BGA package is being concerned. Thermal cycling test (TCT)is one of typical reliability test used to investigate the reliability of the BGA package. This study investigates on the thermal cycling effect on the crack formation of solder joint in ball grid array package. The BGA package was subjected to thermal cycle test with temperature cyclic of -40°C and 85°C for 500, 750 and 1000 cycles. The finding shows that the cracks were observed in solder joint in 750 and 1000 cycles. This shows that the BGA package is sensitive to the thermal cycling and effect its reliability. The package was modified with adding underfill materials and tested through the same cycles. Cross sectional and Dye and pry test show no crack formation and dye penetration for all thermal cycles in the BGA package with underfill.

The development of high entropy alloy (HEA) is considered a new bloom area as the ideas open up the exploration of a various multi-disciplinary elements in many applications. It is a novel class of complex materials identified in the phase diagram's core, and they have been proven to outperform typical alloys. This HEA involves mixing unique combinations of mechanical and functional qualities across an infinite space of alloy composition. It is also possessing a great understanding of the thermodynamic behaviour of the materials which influence greatly their physical and mechanical properties. This review paper aims to open up the possibilities of developing HEA on different types of approaches based on the core effects which is very useful in functional materials applications especially in semiconductor, refractory and many more. However, to obtain this material, the most crucial thing is to understand and develop their synthesising routes of HEA production, which has become the main priority. Therefore, this paper focuses on discussing different metal elements that are commonly used in HEA and few fabrication routes on HEA. Some of recent functional materials based HEA is introduced by their enhance properties compare to conventional alloys.

The development of highly conductive fabrics for application in electronic textiles on non-rigid substrates has gained much interest owing to their potential for realizing next-generation wearable conductive fabrics. Besides, it could be used as a portable device in the energy and healthcare industries. However, pristine PEDOT: PSS has been reported to have low conductivity values due to excessive PSS chains that wrapped up around the PEDOT conductive chain structure. In this context, one of the most successful techniques to include dopant is to use ethylene glycol (EG) to improve the conductivity of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS). Immersing or coating of fabrics with PEDOT: PSS is one of the facile methods used for obtaining functional and smart properties. Our studies prepared conductive polymer; PEDOT: PSS with ethylene glycol (EG) dopant) at different concentrations on polyester (PES) fabric substrates by a facile immersion process. The effect of the different concentrations of EG on the conductivity is shown when Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is conducted. It shows that 6% v/v of EG gives the optimum conductivity value up to 4.06 × 10^-3 Scm^-1. Meanwhile, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging is focusing on the morphology of the immersed fabric. The improvement in crystallinity of the doped PEDOT: PSS was revealed and evaluated using X-ray Diffraction (XRD). As a result, it has been demonstrated that EG is an excellent dopant because it efficiently increases the electrical conductivity and crystallinity of PEDOT: PSS fabric.

Introducing {10-12} tension twin lamellas has proved to be the most effective strategy to enhance the performance of Mg alloys. Twins can provide the preferential nucleation sites for recrystallization, hence twinning induced grain refinement can result in higher strength material based on Hall-Petch Effect. In addition, twinning can also modify the crystallographic c-axis distribution in wrought Mg alloys resulting in lower plastic anisotropy. Accordingly, in the present work, the twinning evolution in the Mg-0.5Ca (wt.%) alloy at room and cryogenic temperature was critically investigated. The samples were subjected to pre-compression (5%) at room temperature and -150 °C at the strain rate of 10^-3 s^-1. The microstructural and textural characterization was carried out using OM, SEM and EBSD to emphasize the twinning evolution during compression at room and low temperatures. The local lattice distortion and the localized deformation in terms of Kernel average misorientation (KAM) was also studied. The results revealed the significant grain refinement (13.7 μm 5.61 μm and 6.02 μm of uncompressed and RT, - 150 °C pre-compressed, respectively), where slightly enhanced twinning fraction in the sample compressed at RT was observed. Finally, remarkable increase in the yield strength was noticed in the pre-twinned samples, which was attributed to the twinning-induced grain refinement based on the Hall-Petch relationship.

In recent years, electronic technologies have been striving to minimize the use of lead in their manufacturing and production. As a result, the electronic packaging industry is slowly transitioning from lead solder to lead-free solder. Though environmentally lead-free solders are advantageous, there are still needs some work in meeting current technological demand and requirements. In this study, the microstructure analysis on lead-free Sn-Ag-Cu Ball Grid Array (BGA) and Sn10Cu solder paste was done. The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of isothermal aging on the microstructure of the solder paste joint and evaluate the intermetallic compound (IMC) thickness on the solder joint reliability. Optical Microscope (OM) and ImageJ software have been utilized to study the bulk solder microstructure. The results show that the bulk microstructure consists of β-Sn and Cu₆Sn₅ / β-Sn eutectic phases. The IMC layer has undergone rapid growth with increasing aging temperature and time. The two main IMC layers (Cu₃Sn and Cu₆Sn₅) grew thicker due to high temperature. The growth kinetic of Sn10Cu resulted in 16.70 kJ/mol activation level. Therefore, the significance of the findings from this study might provide a potential answer for future development for highly reliable solder joint applications.

Magnesium alloy have known as degradable implant material due to biodegradable properties. However, by developed Mg alloy matrix composites containing a bioceramic will produced more biodegradable and does not need second surgical to remove the implants in body. Powder metallurgy route was used to fabricate the AZ91/BG composite by mixing, compacting and sintering. Mg alloy (AZ91) was reinforced with 0, 3, 6, and 9 wt% of bioglass (BG) before compact and sintered at 400°C for 2 hours. The Vickers hardness, scanning electron microscope, and x-ray diffraction are used to investigate the effect of BG particles addition on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the composite AZ91/BG. Bioactivity behaviour was studied by immersion test of AZ91/BG composite into phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution for 72 hours. The results showed that as the addition of BG increases from 3 to 9 wt%, the hardness of AZ91/BG decrease from 43.3HV to 27.9HV. The result also showed the formation of protective layers or apatite layer on the surface of AZ91/BG composite after immersed in PBS solution for 72 hours. Phase analysis by XRD shows the presence of peak Ca₁₀(OH)₂(PO₄)₆ as the BG increased from 3 to 9 wt%. As a conclusion, AZ91/3BG shows the optimum composite for biomedical application based on its properties and bioactivity behaviour.

This paper reports influence of isothermal aging on bulk solder and the microstructure evolution of commercial Sn-0.7Cu (Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni+Ge) Pb-free solder alloy with addition of bismuth (Bi) and indium (In). Sn-0.7Cu, Sn-0.7Cu-1.0Bi, Sn-0.7Cu-1.0Bi-1.0In, Sn-0.7Cu-1.0Bi-4.0In, Sn-0.7Cu-1.0Bi-7.0 In solder alloys were prepared via casting process. The solder alloys were aged isothermally at 180°C for 500 hours and microstructure was compared with that of as-cast solder. Microstructure of bulk solder and melting temperatures were analysed via scanning electron microscopy, SEM and differential scanning calorimetry, DSC. The addition of In up to 7 wt% reduced the melting temperature from 231.1 to 218.5°C, and crystallisation temperature from 205.8 to 194.7°C with decreasing degree of undercooling which indicates that the In-added solder alloy had faster nucleation rate. Microstructure evaluation showed that as the amount of indium added increased to 7.0 wt%, the ß-Sn grains became smaller suggesting a refinement effect with In addition. Indium addition also encouraged the formation of Sn-In and Bi-In IMC which increased as the amount of In increased. These IMCs could potentially act as blocking mechanism for deformation leading to higher strength.

Copper (Cu) wire has been extensively used in the semiconductors industry to replace gold wire because of its cost-effectiveness and high performance. However, it has a massive challenge because of its high oxidation rate, high hardness, and high susceptibility to corrosion which is time-sensitive under environmental conditions. One of the attractive factors to investigate is the electrolytes used in the assembly process of copper wire. However, these electrolyte chemicals may potentially affect the quality of the copper wire bond's metallurgical interconnection, manifesting as copper corrosion. Therefore, this paper will investigate the mechanism of the electrolyte reaction and the chemicals. In addition, the metallurgical morphology of the copper wire observes through electron microscopy. The results suggest that corrosion occurs with a specific time rate, electrolyte type-dependent and metallurgical interconnection system. The Copper wire bonded on silver (Ag) plated lead frame (Cu-Ag-Cu) interconnection experiences a significant morphological change in most compared with other electrolyte systems. Furthermore, since it is a bimetallic element (Cu and Ag) thus, the corrosion type is galvanic.

Transient Liquid Phase (TLP) has been a potential bonding technique for high temperature application solder alloy. TLP bonding for solder is a soldering method that using a low and high temperature metal layer for solid form solder, and a mixing of low and high temperature metal powder in flux medium, for paste form solder. Transient Liquid Phase bonding process involved thoroughly consumption of low melting point metal into high melting point metal and results in the formation of high temperature melting point peritectic intermetallic compound (IMC) which enables the solder to be soldered at typical low soldering temperature but, the solder connection can be applied in the high temperature application. The morphology of the peritectic IMCs mainly consist two solids, which is primary α as well as peritectic β together with liquid phase at peritectic temperature. The growth formation of those primary α and peritectic β phases has resulted with a variety of possible peritectic microstructure's morphology as will be discussed further.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of surface morphology of copper (Cu) substrate on the intermetallic compound (IMC) growth and interfacial reactions when soldered with SAC305 lead-free solder during a thermal aging process. The surface morphology conditions of the Cu substrate influence the growth activity of the IMC layer. This study used different grits of silicon carbide (SiC) abrasive paper (400, 800 and 1200) to grind the Cu substrate to produce different surface roughness. The resulting Cu surface morphologies were examined using an infinite focus microscope (IFM), and the parameters used in this stereometric analysis were profile roughness. Hand soldering was used to melt the SAC305 solder on the Cu substrates with different surface roughness. Subsequently, the samples were subjected to an aging temperature of 150 °C for 800 hours to grow the IMC layers. Thermal aging increased the IMC thickness at the Cu-SAC305 interfaces. After thermal aging, the IMC layer thickness and related parameters were measured and analyzed with the IFM. The growth of the IMC layer thickness depended on the different surface morphology of the substrate when the aging temperatures and Cu materials were maintained in this study. In general, the IMC morphology for the rougher Cu substrate had a scallop-shaped and uniformed layer compared to those IMC from the smooth Cu substrate. The Cu substrate ground surface roughness with 400 grit SiC abrasive paper produced an average roughness, R_a of 505.02 nm; this roughness produced the thinnest IMC layers compared to the different Cu substrates ground by SiC abrasive paper of different grits.

Copper wire bonding has got attracted attention over gold wire bonding due to its lower cost. However, despite many unique aspects and properties of copper wire bonding, corrosion of copper wire bonding has become a point of interest as it leads to the failure of semiconductor packages. Current and future trends and development in miniaturization and multifunction of the semiconductor packages show semiconductor manufacturers to establish good wire bonding with high reliability. However, this trend becomes a significant challenge in respect of corrosion occurrence. Several studies on the corrosion of copper wire bonding; however, there is no considerable study in the integrated factors leading to corrosion. Therefore, this paper focuses on investigating the corrosion phenomena of wire copper wire bonding, especially wedge bonds. This paper use a combination of the problem-solving approach for a complex problem. The analysis suggested that the weightage of factors, depending on process parameters and process steps, play a particular role in facilitating or preventing corrosion on the copper wire bonding. Therefore, it is essential to consider these factors when designing assembly process steps and parameters to control corrosion in semiconductor packages.

Silicene is a two-dimensional material made up of silicon atoms, the silicene nanoribbons (SNRs) studied here are made of silicene with edges modified by hydrogen atoms. The work doped a thallium atom into the unit cell of SNRs, the electric field acting on the system has a constant magnitude: 0.15V/Å. There are two doped structures studied, top structure and valley structure. Density functional theory (DFT) is used in this study, the bands of energy and states of the configurations will be plotted, investigated, and analysed. The partial states (s, p) will be studied.

There have been experiments on TiO₂ thin films synthesized utilizing sol-gel techniques. The sol-gel method is a straightforward technology that gives numerous benefits to the researcher, for instance, material's reliability, reproducibility, and controllability. Following from there, it can be utilized to make high-quality nano-structured thin films. According to previous studies, the TiO₂ films' characteristics occur to be highly dependent on the production parameters and initial materials utilized. Controlling the formation of TiO₂ thin films with the sol-gel method was momentarily discussed here.

This paper elucidates the fabrication of kaolin geopolymer as the ceramic material. The kaolin geopolymer ceramic (KGC) was used as a new potential reinforcement in the lead-free solder. The fabrication of KGC was started through combination of alkaline solution of NaOH and Na₂SiO₃ reaction with kaolin material. The mixture of kaolin geopolymer were prepared and the homogenised mixture were curing for 24 hours. The kaolin geopolymer is sintered at 1200°C and then crushed to produces a fine kaolin geopolymer. The KGC were then mixed with lead-free solder through powder metallurgy technique. The elemental distribution in the KGC was investigated by using Synchrotron Micro-XRF. Meanwhile, the phase analysis involved in KGC and composite solder with addition of KGC were investigated as well.

The insulating nature of a polymer can be changed to electrically conductive by incorporating conductive fillers within the polymer matrix to form a conductive polymer composite (CPC). One of the potential application of CPCs are in the area of flexible electronic interconnect application. Nevertheless, the correlation between the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of CPCs such as tensile was found to be limited. Therefore, this paper is aimed to report the preliminary investigation on the correlation between conductivity and mechanical properties of a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) incorporation with conductive filler which is carbon black (CB. It was observed that the tensile strength was decreased by up to 29.4% and the elongation of break was decreased by up to 90.6% at higher CB loading compared to pure LDPE. Nonetheless, the modulus of elasticity and the electrical conductivity of the composites were increased by up to 150.5% and 16.4% at higher CB loading respectively. Moreover, it was found that the effect of CB additions on the tensile modulus was greater compared to the conductivity of the CPCs.

The natural fibers from trees, agricultural waste, fruit skins and others will be considered as recyclable and recently have been used widely as filler materials in polymer composites. As an alternative, natural fibers have become the attention of researchers to substituate the commercial, synthetic and costly fibers. Therefore, this study has used 6 types of natural fibers from local fruit waste in Malaysia, and investigate the ability of each of them to absorb oil and water. All natural fiber showed different absorption percentage within the testing period. The natural fiber which more hydrophilic goes to coconut shell, againts peanuts as the lowest in absorbing water. Meanwhile, coconut residue capable to absorb more oil than coconut shell which showed oleophobic behaviour. The cellulose content, the hollow or pores and also the types of natural fiber are the factors that affect the percentage of oil and water uptake.

Hydrocarbon flame syntheses of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on various metals substrates have been reported in literature, but existing methods are limited to usage of high melting temperature metals substrate due to excessive temperature in conventional diffusion flame burner. To address this limitation, high thermal conductivity chimney is innovatively incorporated into the diffusion burner to control flame temperature. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of chimney application on the interaction behaviour between flame temperature profile and concentration of post combustion species distribution of diffusion flame. In this study, Computational Fluids Dynamics (CFD) – Chemical Kinetics (Chemkin) coupling method is used to simulate the flow and transport behaviour of laminar methane-air mixture in combustion environment. Kinetics mechanism is imported into species transport model of Chemkin simulator to further determine the reaction between combustion species and temperature profile of the mixture. Heat transfer models are then integrated into simulation to investigate the cooling effect of chimney during the combustion of methane-air mixture. This numerical simulation study provides insights on effects of chimney application towards cooling, species concentration, flame temperature and paving path for controlling the growth of CNT on low melting temperature metal substrate. Numerical models show improvement in temperature controls, increase in gas species concentration and in surface area that is favourable for growth of CNTs.

Excessive heat will cause discomfort while doing daily life even the use of electrical items such as fans and air conditioner are not entirely helpful. This is because the building does not have a layer to absorb the heat. Then, the best initiative to lessen the heat in building is by adding thermal insulation material into the building material. Past researcher shown most thermal insulators used are fiberglass, mineral wool, polystyrene and polyurethane foam. However, there are some flaws with the thermal insulator that cause new ideas to emerge namely cellulose. Cellulose is an insoluble substance that is a major component of plant cell walls and vegetable fibres such as cotton. Normally cellulose can be found in the plants. By cause to the increasing surplus of oil palm trees then the use of cellulose in oil palm is the best. This paper review discusses about preparation of an insulator material using renewable sources and application of palm oil tree.

A composite solder joints made of Cu/Sn-58Bi/Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (in weight percent) was successfully fabricated. The composite solder was made from combining a Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder ball and Sn-58Bi solder paste. The composite solder was reflowed on Cu-OSP (copper-organic solderability preservatives) substrate to form a composite solder joint. The microstructure evolution of the composite solder joints under different reflow temperature and thermal aging conditions were investigated using an optical microscope. This study shows that a composite solder joint of SAC305/Sn-58Bi can be assembled at lower temperature (160 °C) and gradually mixed through isothermal aging.

In this study, we have investigated the deformation behaviour of Grade 1 commercially pure titanium at 20°C, -100°C and -170°C. Optical microscope and electron backscatter diffraction were applied to characterise the twins activated during tensile testing and the crystal orientations of the sample, and further to analyse the orientation dependent slip activity. The higher density of twins was exhibited at lower deformation temperature. The twinning activity was also higher in the parallel loading (RD) than transverse loading (TD) to rolling direction. According to the Schmid factor analysis, the grains were most favourable for <a>-prism slip in the RD sample, whilst the large fraction of grains was favourable for <a>-basal slip in the TD samples. The activation of slip systems is anticipated to be changed with decreasing temperature due to the different effect of temperature on critical resolved shear stress between slip systems. The work-hardening was affected by twinning- and dislocation-induced hardening depending on the temperature and crystal texture. Consequently, the high work-hardening capacity increased or maintained the total elongation (EL) with decreasing temperature (EL: 66% vs. 70% (RD) and 55% vs. 51% (TD) between 20°C and -170°C).

Sustainability is a growing concern in the rubber industry particularly due to the vast amount of environmental issues associated with the manufacturing process. The dependencies of hydrocarbons as Rubber Processing Oils (RPOs) throughout the compounding process is an area that is being heavily researched in search for greener alternatives. This study aims to determine the viability of a naturally available vegetable oil, Epoxidized Palm Oil (EPO), as a substitute to the current petroleum-based rubber processing oils. Therefore, the processability, cure characteristics as well as mechanical properties of the rubber compounds with EPO were benchmarked with those of the standard rubber compounds prepared with selected petroleum oils; Paraffin Oil, Aromatic Oil and Naphthenic Oil. The finding from this report suggests that EPO is a viable substitute to petroleum-derived RPOs as it performs within the acceptable range as the compounds with the other RPOs.

Thermoplastic polymers (PLA) are used for bone scaffold reconstruction that helps facilitate the transportation of oxygen and nutrients, including cell activity such as migration, proliferation, attachment, and differentiation. Throughout evaluation of polymer scaffold of its mechanical properties that could heal human body injuries after implantation. However, these ideal parameters for polymeric scaffolds in terms of flexural characteristics are undefined in tissue engineering applications. The Taguchi approach was employed using an orthogonal array L9 to study the ideal print parameters for 3D printing and the elements that most influence flexural qualities, as well as to forecast the highest flexural strength that could be reached with the optimal printing parameter. Furthermore, the flexural test is an appropriate test to evaluate the mechanical properties of the scaffold. The Taguchi technique determined that a printing speed of 90 mm/s, a layer height of 0.2 mm, and a density of 60% infill was the optimal combination of parameters. Besides, Printing speed showed as the most significant factor contribution while the infill density is the lowest contributor. The maximum level of printing speed, the average percentage of infill, and the medium layer height are the best parameter combinations. Parameter optimization on the most influential contributor indicates the printing speed of the specimen. Thus, the parameter for the selected factor in scaffold fabrication was optimized with a significant contribution. The predicted flexural strength was 383.92 MPa, while actual test obtained was 360.221 MPa with an error of 6.57 %.

The potential transforming the waste materials into an alternative source was found in iron and steelmaking application that also would solved the world's most problematic waste stream. Generally, converting the waste materials into auxiliary source only is accessible to certain wastes industries due to its difficulty to recycle hence generally landfilled. Recycling waste materials used in ferrosilicon production as carbon and silica source to control the reduction reaction with iron oxide. The present paper reviews the phase transformation and morphology in the production of ferrosilicon at temperature 1550°C on graphite and plastic waste (bakelite) as the potential carbon materials and silica powder and glass waste (automotive glass - windshield, window glass) as alternatives silica source in production of ferrosilicon. The utilization of carbon material from plastic waste and silica source from glass waste (automotive glass) can be used for ferrosilicon synthesis and CO gas concentration comparable with conventional carbon source (graphite) typical silica source (silica powder). The utilization of recycled wasted is efficient due to enhancement in the reaction with iron oxide thus potentially replacing the conventional materials in ferrosilicon synthesis as well as minimizing the landfill wastes.

This research paper focuses on the effect of curing temperature on the properties of kaolin geopolymer paste. Alternatively, kaolin was used as binders in making concrete paste in order to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to the environment. Kaolin geopolymer paste was made by mixture of kaolin and alkaline activators with 0.8 :1 of solid to liquid ratio. The alkaline activator solutions were prepared with 0.2:1 ratio of Na₂SiO₃/NaOH. The mixture were placed in cube moulds (50 mm × 50 mm × 50 mm) and left for 24 hours until it hardened. Then, the samples were cured at 60, 70 and 80°C for 24 hours in the oven. The samples were then tested based on compressive strength, porosity, water absorption and morphology after days 28. Kaolin geopolymer paste with 70°C curing temperature is proved to have the highest compressive strength (1.04 N/mm²), lowest percentage of water absorption (1.71%) and lowest percentage of porosity (0.15%) compared to 60°C and 80°C curing temperature. The microstructure of 70°C curing temperature also shows that the geopolimerization was fully occurred with no pore.

Health biosensor applications based on conjugated polymer have gained many attentions among researchers because of their sensitivity, selectivity, and linearity. Polyaniline, a conjugated conducting polymer has been explored since the early 1960s and one of the famous conducting polymer compare to the others like polypyrrole, polyacetylene, and polythiophene. Polyaniline is ease to synthesis, high conductivity, and good performance in biosensor applications. A doping approach using protonic acids (hydrocholoric acid, 4-dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid) can be utilized to increase solubility and induce fusibility of the stiff chain of the polymer. A structural modification of doping process could make the polymer become high conductivity and it was universally agreed about that. Polyaniline presents ionic conductivity and electronic combinations that make bio-interfaces exist among the other electrochemical applications. The conductivity of the polymer is one of the promising materials that may be used to improve the analytical properties of sensors. Langmuir-Blodgett technique is a method to produce thin film of polyaniline therefore the conductivity of polyaniline can be measured using four-point probe device.

This paper presents the effect of nickel-coated precipitated calcium carbonate (Ni-coated PCC) on the wettability, microstructure and phase change of Sn-9Zn solder. The microstructure and phase analysis of the material plays a very important role as it determines the physical and mechanical behavior of materials. Both Sn-9Zn and Ni-coated PCC/Sn-9Zn produced almost similar microstructure, which contain needle-like, dark phase Zn-rich phase and distributed evenly in beta-Sn rich matrix. However, compared to pure Sn-9Zn, the addition of Ni-coated PCC produce finer size of Zn rich phase needle-like structure. The presence of new phases of nickel tin and calcium carbonate compounds was also found with the addition of Ni-coated PCC. This believed to help in refining the size of Zn-rich needle structure, while retaining the original phases of Sn and Zn of the Sn-9Zn solder, Furthermore, Ni-coated PCC/Sn-9Zn have a smaller contact angle compared to pure Sn-9Zn. This can be explained that, Ni-coated PCC reinforced particle was the interfacial active element and decrease the interfacial energy between the solid and liquid. The microstructure and phase analysis of the material plays a very important role as it determines the wettability behavior of the material

This paper reports the effect of 1.0 wt.% fly ash (FA) geopolymer ceramic powder addition in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305, in wt.%) solder joint. Powder metallurgy route was used to fabricate the new composite solder. Solder balls were formed from the new composite solder and reflowed on Cu substrate. The effect of FA as ceramic reinforcement on the bulk microstructure and the interfacial intermetallic compound layer formation of solder joints were investigated under optical microscope. Microstructure observation showed that the β-Sn dendrite size was refined in SAC305-1.0FA/Cu bulk solder joint sample than that in the non-reinforced sample. The addition of FA geopolymer ceramic powder into the solder matrix also produced a thinner intermetallic compound layer.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is a biomaterial with the chemical formula Ca₁₀(PO₄)6(OH)₂. Normally, it was used and applied in biomedical applications, cooking recipes and healthy food products. Due to this, it has attracted the researcher to work on HAp synthesis and extraction. In this study, the hydroxyapatite was extracted from fresh water Black Tilapia Fish Scales (BTFS) was analysed. The crystallinity of the HAp was characterized by using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) whereas the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was used to characterize the presence of HAp from the samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provided with an Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, (EDS) was used to investigate the morphology and element of the hydroxyapatite powders. The BTFS samples were heated at 100 °C to composed and eliminated the remaining meat and other impurities. A mechanical crusher was applied to make a miniscule and fine hydroxyapatite powder using a thermal calcination technique using a furnace. The BTFS samples powder were calcined at a temperature of 900 °C for 3 hours correspondingly. The XRD spectra findings, uncovered the existence of the obtained BTFS HAp are articulate with Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Powder Standard data (JCPDS) from the library. From the SEM results, HAp powder presence in hexagonal shape. The findings show the potential of producing high-value products from fishing waste, such as HAp with Ca/P ratio 1.74, for biomedical applications.

Hydroxyapatite, also known as HAp, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂ is a naturally present form of calcium phosphate, which make up a large portion of inorganic components in human bones. Because of its near resemblance in structure to natural bone, it has been commonly used in orthopaedic applications. The ecosystem is negatively impacted by large amounts of by-product waste from fisheries factories. Thus, the aim of this study is to extract the HAp from black tilapia fish bones (BTFB) from a fish fillet factory. Fish bone can serve as a low-cost source of HAp and contribute significantly to biomedical applications. The BTFB was calcined for 3 hours at 700 °C and 900 °C, respectively. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the presence of derived HAp, which matched data from the Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Powder Standard (JCPDS). For functional group analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used, and the organic compounds were removed throughout the calcination process according to the spectra. The chemical composition of Ca and P was revealed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX), with traces of magnesium, Mg, and sodium, Na present. In the BTFB samples, the Ca/P molar ratio was determined to be 1.67 which is the stoichiometries HAp. These findings have potential as a biomaterial for biomedical applications.

Delamination of small outline transistor (SOT) package has been a challenge to ensure good package reliability. Molding process parameter optimization is a practical & cost-effective alternative to reduce delamination of the plastic package. First, selective molding parameters, namely, molding temperature, transfer speed, transfer pressure & pre-heat temperature was varied in a full factorial experiment to determine the significance of each factor. It is observed from the complete factorial analysis that molding temperature was the most significant factor concerning delamination. Next, one factor at a time (OFAT) experimental design was conducted to confirm moulding temperature's repeatability. Molding temperature was identified as a significant factor on determining the delamination response of SOT packages. Lowering mold temperature resulting to lower percentage of delamination however proven to have an adverse on package curing density.

The application of organic conducting polymers such as poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene): poly (4-styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) is vastly expanding for the development of advanced and flexible organic electronic devices, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). Also, PEDOT: PSS can perfectly replace high-cost Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films. In this study, PEDOT: PSS was synthesized via the chemical oxidative polymerization method. The film formation was carried out through a feasible drop-casting method onto a cleaned glass substrate. To further enhance the conductivity of pristine PEDOT: PSS, the PEDOT: PSS thin films were post-treated with different concentrations (3, 5, and 7% v/v) of ethylene glycol (EG). Based on the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis, it was revealed that the post-treated sample had a higher conductivity value compared to the untreated sample (2.48 × 10^-4 S/cm), with the highest recorded conductivity value of 2.67 ×10^-3 S/cm at 5% v/v of EG. This result corresponds to the previous study, which highlighted that the optimum concentration of EG is 5% v/v to achieve the optimum conductivity value for thin film application. Furthermore, the structural properties of the thin films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to confirm the presence of PEDOT: PSS and EG in the samples.

Solder paste printing is a process by which the correct amount of solder paste is applied to the printed circuit board via a stencil. The solder release from the stencil printing process very much depends on the type of solder paste and stencil conditions such as the shape of the aperture, size, and thickness of the stencil. This paper investigates the stencil condition in particular the stencil wall aperture and its relationship to the solder release ability. In this work, two types of stencil wall openings A and B were used, which differ in a different ways of cutting to achieve the wall aperture. The cutting process produced different surface roughness of the wall aperture of the stencil. Stencil printing was performed to print the solder paste onto the PCB pad. The release of solder paste was observed by solder paste inspection (SPI) and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results show that stencil B gives a better solder compared to stencil A. This is due to the smoother wall aperture compared to stencil A which has a roughened wall aperture. This shows that the performance of stencil printing in terms of solder printing quality is highly dependent on the surface roughness of the stencil aperture. Stencil quality is important as it affects the performance of solder paste printing, and this process is mainly carried out in the electronics industry. Therefore, understanding stencil conditions is important for electronic technology that uses solder printing.

The behaviour of 800H nickel (Ni)-based alloy under isothermal oxidation condition was study in this paper. The isothermal oxidation behaviour was examined in terms of fine grained and coarse grained 800H Ni-based alloy obtained from heat treatment operation at 1000 °C and 1150 °C, respectively. The heat treated samples were undergo an isothermal oxidation attempt at 500 °C in laboratory air for 500 hours exposure duration. The effects on the oxidation kinetics was examined in terms of weight change measurement. In addition, the effects on the oxide scale growth was observed in terms of phase analysis using XRD technique and surface morphology analysis using FESEM outfitted with EDX spectrometer. As a results, both fine grained and coarse grained 800H Ni-based alloy were obey a parabolic rate law showing that the oxide growth rate was followed a diffusion controlled mechanism. Additionally, fine grained 800H Ni-based alloy sample exhibited a inferior oxidation rate compared to coarse grained sample. The XRD analysis exhibited that the oxides scale composed of Cr₂O₃, TiO₂ and MnCr₂O₄. The observation on the oxide scale morphology indicate that uniform oxide scales were formed on the alloy surface of both samples. However, coarse grained 800H Ni-based alloy recorded an oxide exfoliation which indicate poor oxidation protection.

The transition from lead (Pb) to Pb-free solder has arisen the need for the development of the reliability of mixed assemblies solder joint research. Mixed assemblies are defined as solder joints that joint together with different compositions or solder forms for example Ball Grid Array (BGA) and solder paste. During the transition period of solder materials, mixed assemblies are still used in electronic packaging. In addition, Pb-free manufacturing has been forced to release some of the product categories since legislation banning the use of lead solder in electronic assemblies. This phenomenon causes health and environmental concern of the Pb solder used in electronic assembly. Hence, some electronic assemblies will continue to use traditional eutectic Sn–Pb solder paste while others will use Pb-free solder paste. This situation indicates that the use of mixed assemblies in electronics manufacturing is still inevitable. This paper presents a projection of the reliability of mixed assembly's Pb-free solder joint.

Using in-situ micropillar compression, the local strain rate sensitivity in Ti6242 and Ti6246 has been investigated to strengthen our understanding on the rate- and slip system-sensitive deformation of dual-phase Ti alloys. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to find target grains anticipating basal and primatic slip activities under compression test. Micropillars with similar α orientation and incomparable β morphology were made by a focused ion beam (FIB). Strain rate sensitivity (SRS) was determined based on the constant strain rate method (CSRM). The marked difference of SRS is found in the α+β of both alloys such that in Ti6242 the SRS in the basal slip is considerably higher than that in the prism whilst both slips in Ti6246 show somewhat similar SRS, inferring that either local chemical effects or the β morphology could affect rate-sensitive deformation behaviour.

The conventional plastic bears unavoidable responsibility for the massive scale generation of garbage. The bulk of the market is mostly made up of fossil-based plastics and the worldwide environmental pollution generated by them is growing increasingly problematic. Agro-waste product is probably a good way to make bioplastic. In fact, biodegradable plastic is indeed a good alternative to replace the petroleum-based plastics. Besides, making good use of agriculture waste can assist in diminishing waste accumulation. Cassava peel is a type of waste from cultivating activities that has the potential in making bio-based plastics. This research will focus on the preparation and characterization of bioplastic from cassava peel. Several related characterization methods such as XRD, SEM, FTIR, TGA will be discussed. The main purpose of this review is to fabricate and produce bioplastic samples from cassava peel with the addition of different ratios of sorbitol and chitosan.

Porous materials exist around our environment and play an important role in our daily lives to be used widely in many fields, among the fields are energy distribution and storage, vibration suppression, liquid filtration, heat insulation, and sound absorption. Porous glasses are materials that have pores structure using silica as the primary component in all types of standard and specialty glass mixture with a foaming agent and other additives. Porous glass is usually in the size of nanometre and micrometer range. Porous glass is usually prepared by using phase separation, sintering and sol-gel method [1]. This review paper will focus on the various properties of this porous material related to the production process used to their properties and possible applications such as filtering, lightweight concrete, heat resistance insulator, and biomaterials.