Recyclable glass fiber-reinforced epoxy copper clad laminates for printed circuit board
5 affiliations
- 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology
- 2Shengyi Technology Co., Ltd.
- 3Lenovo Information Products (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
- 4Changsha Adesso Advanced Materials Co., Ltd.
- 5IVIEW Therapeutics (Zhuhai Hengqin) Co., Ltd.
Abstract
Epoxy-based copper-clad laminates (CCLs) comprise >60% of the rigid CCL market, yet such CCLs are rarely recyclable at present. This paper describes the first industrialization of recyclable epoxy systems prepared with acetal-functionalized methylenebis(oxy)dianilines (MDAs) degradable curing agents, which make the corresponding CCLs recyclable and reuseable. We systematically studied the curing behaviors as well as the thermal and mechanical properties of these recyclable epoxy systems. All epoxy/MDA systems thermally decomposed at >288 °C, enabling their CCLs to pass the thermal stress test—currently unachieved with vitrimers. The cured networks degraded in acid via acetal hydrolysis to linear polymers. FR-4-type CCLs cured with the three MDAs met all IPC-4101/128 requirements, and their degradation products were reused to prepare Composite Epoxy Material (CEM)-3–type CCLs: a circular life cycle. We industrialized 2,2’-MDA-cured FR-4, including printed circuit board application testing and qualification, scaled-up degradation and recycling in CEM-3, Underwriters Laboratories certification, and standardization.
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BibTeX
@article{mo2026recyclable,
title = {{Recyclable glass fiber-reinforced epoxy copper clad laminates for printed circuit board}},
author = {Yueqi Mo and Wei Lin and Yanping Zhou and Bing Qin and Xin Li and Guoxin Du and Jinrong Ye and Zhongqiang Yang and Bo Liang},
journal = {Communications Chemistry},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s42004-026-02078-4},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-026-02078-4},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Recyclable glass fiber-reinforced epoxy copper clad laminates for printed circuit board
AU - Yueqi Mo
AU - Wei Lin
AU - Yanping Zhou
AU - Bing Qin
AU - Xin Li
AU - Guoxin Du
AU - Jinrong Ye
AU - Zhongqiang Yang
AU - Bo Liang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/01
JO - Communications Chemistry
DO - 10.1038/s42004-026-02078-4
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-026-02078-4
AB - Epoxy-based copper-clad laminates (CCLs) comprise >60% of the rigid CCL market, yet such CCLs are rarely recyclable at present. This paper describes the first industrialization of recyclable epoxy systems prepared with acetal-functionalized methylenebis(oxy)dianilines (MDAs) degradable curing agents, which make the corresponding CCLs recyclable and reuseable. We systematically studied the curing behaviors as well as the thermal and mechanical properties of these recyclable epoxy systems. All epoxy/MDA systems thermally decomposed at >288 °C, enabling their CCLs to pass the thermal stress test—currently unachieved with vitrimers. The cured networks degraded in acid via acetal hydrolysis to linear polymers. FR-4-type CCLs cured with the three MDAs met all IPC-4101/128 requirements, and their degradation products were reused to prepare Composite Epoxy Material (CEM)-3–type CCLs: a circular life cycle. We industrialized 2,2’-MDA-cured FR-4, including printed circuit board application testing and qualification, scaled-up degradation and recycling in CEM-3, Underwriters Laboratories certification, and standardization.
SN - 2399-3669
ER -