Solderless Component Assembly: Novel Ecological Approach to Electronics Production

This work aimed to evaluate a new approach to electronics manufacturing using recycled and recyclable 3D-printed polymers as an insulation substrate and printing of conductive silver ink as a conductive pattern. Furthermore, connection to the board is realized via embedding the components into the substrate and the ink’s overprints. The first results from the measurements showed that this type of connection is comparable to conductive adhesive joints regarding contact resistance. Also, the behavior of the joints during accelerated aging by thermal shocks is relatively acceptable from a reliability point of view. A significant advantage of this manufacturing method is the absence of the high-temperature heating processes and, thus, energy savings compared to conventional production processes. Also, the final product is easily recyclable after its functional life. On the other hand, the overall quality is lower than that of standard printed circuit boards consisting of FR4 substrate and the copper conductive layer. The range of available and suitable components is also much smaller. The proposed solution could find applications primarily in low-cost electronics or prototyping.