I am using some UV curing adhesives and was told that there is a risk of leaving uncured monomers in the adhesive that could cause adhesive failure long term (like 6+ months) where the monomers dissolve or soften the cured resin. Assuming my cured adhesive is very hard and tests good for tensile strength, is there any truth that uncured monomers (in very small amount) can cause the adhesive bond to weaken over time?

If a material is fully cured, there is no risk of re-solvating the adhesive due to uncured monomers left behind since everything that could react has been reacted. However, it is our experience that many people who use a light-curable adhesive do not actually reach a fully cured state. Instead of reaching a fully cured state of 96 to 100 percent conversion of reactable materials, sometimes a particular process or part configuration will only reach 75 to 80 percent conversion. If a material only reaches semi-cured status, it could appear to be cured, and give good tensile strength and a cured surface, but have unreacted monomers at some level within the adhesive – which can then resolvate or attack the surrounding adhesive, thereby weakening the adhesive and the bond joint. This would be noticed with accelerated aging or within one to six months. A good qualification process will eliminate this risk.

• Evaluate various safety factors (cure time or intensity at 1.3x, 1.5x, 2.0x, 3.0x) to verify that the adhesive strength and properties have reached a plateau.
• Run accelerated aging at a moderate temperature to verify long-term stability.
• Evaluate the adhesive in a process by FTIR to identify the presence of uncured monomer (a skilled analytical chemist can identify a double bond peak, indicating the presence of uncured adhesive, and the lack of a double bond peak indicating that all reactable materials have been reacted), or use photo-differential-scanning calorimetry to measure the change in crosslink density.
• Build a process to ensure that you reach a fully cured state, and have a good safety margin.

I have an application where we would like to cover the edge of a silicon die (that has been first tacked in place with epoxy that has been cured to a Valox/PBT base) with an uncured epoxy. Then add additional epoxy to a second bond location that ultimately bonds the Valox base to a Valox cover that has a slight press fit, covering the silicon die. After the press fit assembly, I would like to light or UV cure through the cover plate, causing both applications to cure. By both applications I am referring the bond line between the Valox cover plate & Valox base as well as the edge coating around the periphery of the silicon die, bonding it to the Valox base.

Are there any polymers that can transmit UV or light sufficiently to allow these types of cures? Is there a special light source required? Can the polymer be anything other than clear? Lastly, is there a medical-grade polymer that can achieve this?”

There are a couple of ways to handle this application: There are a number of polymers that can be used for a cover plate that will let light through, whether UV or visible light. One way is to use a tinted plastic like polycarbonate or acrylic. Tinting the plastic with a dark blue dye will create the “illusion” of being opaque, but will let the proper wavelengths through the plastic to allow it to cure. Finding the right balance of dye will be critical. One way to judge the impact of the dye in the plastic, or the transmission through the plastic, is to measure the intensity of light coming through the plastic from the light source. You can calculate a percentage loss of transmission through the plastic in both the UV and visible regions. Most adhesives want to see a minimum of 200 mW/cm², and some of the light sources on the market are emitting light of 20,000 mW/cm². Even if the plastic blocks off 90 percent UV light, and 70 percent visible light, this might be enough to allow it to cure. If the plastic compounder uses a pigment to augment the tint, make sure the level of pigment is low, and they use a white pigment like Titanium Dioxide.

A good field test – if you hold the plastic up to the light and can see a shadow as you wave your hand behind it – you might have enough light coming through to cure the adhesives. Stay away from yellow-orange-red colors. Whites, blues, and greens are better. There are a number of medical grade adhesives that can be used for this application, and various curing lamps.