Looking at the development of silk screen printing ink in China from the sales war of PCB ink

Business Club March 28th With the continuous advancement of reforms and the development of science and technology, China has become one of the most advanced countries in the world from a backward PCB ink producing country. In 2003, China’s total PCB output value ranked second in the world, PCB. The development of the industry quickly led to the development of the surrounding industries and related industries. Now, whether it is high-end cutting-edge equipment, instruments, meters, or materials used in PCBs, there has been rapid development. It has also changed from an importing country to an exporting country. The technical indicators of some equipment and materials have also reached international standards, especially PCB screen printing ink has reached the highest in the world.

First, the historical review and application status China's first printed board was introduced in 1959, was only used for mass production in the early 60s of the 20th century. Originally used as a mask for the manufacture of printed board graphics was a dichromate sensitizer colloid.

1: Three stages of development of the photomask 1 Shellac Photomask: This oldest technology was introduced from the former Soviet Union and was quickly eliminated due to the complexity of the ethanol development process.

2 Gummy Photoreceptor Mask: This technology is transplanted from the process of plate making and sign making. It is economical and practical. Later, technicians further developed physical solid film and chemical solid film technologies, which were quickly promoted but cannot be stored for a long time at high temperatures.

3 PVA Photomask: This mask can be used for more than one month and has stable physical and chemical properties. It has made great progress compared with bone glue mask.

None of the above three masks can meet the growing market demand. Given that the lines of printed board graphics are mostly above 1.5 mm at that time, a new process method is urgently needed instead.

2: Self-made screen printing resist ink At the time, the screens used were all silk screens, and the mesh specifications were less. The plate making methods used “engraved red film” and “etched pattern painting reversal” method. Although there are many deficiencies in self-made screen printing resist ink, it is also a leap for China's PCB manufacturing graphics.

3: Commercial ink printers who screen printing resist inks have seen a strong business opportunity in China's PCB ink market. They soon introduced screen printing resist inks of various types and different properties, forming a printing plate ink market. Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States also pushed our company's PCB screen printing resist ink to China as quickly as possible, and established a joint venture company. These brands have stable ink performance and ease of use. The most prominent feature is the process of fading ink. There has been a great improvement - the use of alkaline solution to remove ink, eliminating the need for solvent cleaning and solvent pollution. With the increase of TV boards and recorder boards, UV-cured resist screen printing inks have come out, which has significantly accelerated the production speed of PCB boards. The 100% solids content of the ink is solvent-free and is the material of choice in circuit board graphic processing. It quickly spreads to the entire country in 1 to 2 years. There has been a situation of oversupplied supply at one time, creating unlimited business opportunities for ink manufacturers.

4: Photo-imaging etching resist plating ink With the expansion of PCB material market, a kind of anti-corrosion and electroplating ink for pattern plating (also called anti-plating method) has also been introduced to China. The most outstanding advantages are: As a general resist ink (acid-resistant etching and alkali-resistant etching under certain conditions), it can also be plated with Cu, PbSn-plated, Sn-plated, and NiNi-plated, with a resolution of 0.05mm/0.05mm ( Line spacing/line width) creates conditions for the processing of precision circuit boards.

It has become one of the major materials for the manufacture of graphics. Because no special equipment is required, large and small enterprises that are widely used in the PCB industry have now become the most used ink in the PCB industry.

Second, solder mask ink Solder resist ink to be permanently left on the surface of the printed circuit board to protect the circuit, from the insulation, it can also protect the circuit when blowing Sn (to the pad and the hole wall coated with Sn), only at the peak time Solder plate to be soldered to the component.

1: The development of solder mask ink The surface coating solder mask ink originated in the late 1960s, and China's printed circuit board solder mask ink began in the late 1970s and began to transfer from import to domestic. Thermal curing type inks also appear. After being limited by the heat-resistant conditions of TVs, tape recorders, and recording boards, UV-curing solder mask inks were also available. After a few years, there has been an increase in variety: In addition to different colors, bright, matt, textured, wrinkled, etc. are also available for users to choose.

2: Photo-imaging solder mask ink Whether it is a thermo-cured solder mask ink or a UV solder mask ink, the coating method is that the screen printing pattern exposes the pad of the printed board. However, as the spacing between the printed circuit board pattern and the land line of the pad gradually becomes smaller and denser, the method of using the pump to screen print the pattern can no longer meet the requirements. Although the method of solder mask welding has been popular for several years, due to its expensive materials, the manufacturing technology of special vacuum laminators is not popular, the operation procedures are complicated, and the yield rate is low. Now this technology has been eliminated. Today's high-density printed boards are light-imaging solder masks. In addition to their thermosetting and UV-blocking properties, the most prominent is their resolution advantage (essentially comparable to photoimprint resists).

3: Application and Popularization of Photographic Imaging Solder Resist In spite of the application of thermosetting solder mask inks and UV curing inks in the category of solder mask inks, these can only be applied to single-sided and low-end electronic product printed boards. In the production of high-grade printed boards also need to use optical imaging solder mask ink. With the development of curtain coating technology and the general increase in printed circuit board line density, the use of optical imaging solder mask inks has continued to spread to large and small enterprises.

From the printed circuit board ink market, optical imaging resist plating resist inks and optical imaging solder mask inks are not only the main products in printed board inks, but also the main materials in the production of high-precision printed boards.

Third, PCB ink market analysis 1: PCB ink prices continue to decline With the rise of PCB status in China in the world, the domestic PCB prices have dropped 4 to 5 times in recent years, SMEs are the most affected. In the case of falling PCB prices, the prices of raw materials and auxiliary materials used for printing are correspondingly reduced, and the situation of falling prices is basically the same as that of PCB.

2: Popularization of photoimaging resist and plating resisting inks Nowadays, the price of photoimprinting resisting plating resist ink is significantly lower than that of dry film (approx. 2 to 3 times), and the utilization rate is more than 95%, and there is no need to add any equipment and plant. The investment, so in recent years, many manufacturers quickly change from the use of dry film to light imaging resist plating ink. After a period of time, due to the substantial reduction in costs and the shortened production cycle, many multi-layer mills also used this ink to complete the processing of the inner plates and received satisfactory results. Some large-scale double-faced manufacturers also use the automatic line production method of double-sided roll-coating into the drying tunnel to obtain a multiplier effect. So far, the application of this ink has basically spread to small and medium enterprises. With the inward migration of printing plates factories in Hong Kong and Taiwan, some advanced coating methods (such as spraying, electrostatic spraying, dip coating, etc.) have also been introduced to mainland China, and the application and promotion of photoimaging resist plating inks A great promotion.

3: Commercial ink printers who screen printing resist inks have seen a strong business opportunity in China's PCB ink market. They soon introduced screen printing resist inks of various types and different properties, forming a printing plate ink market. Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States also pushed our company's PCB screen printing resist ink to China as quickly as possible, and established a joint venture company. These brands have stable ink performance and ease of use. The most prominent feature is the process of fading ink. There has been a great improvement - the use of alkaline solution to remove ink, eliminating the need for solvent cleaning and solvent pollution. With the increase of TV boards and recorder boards, UV-cured resist screen printing inks have come out, which has significantly accelerated the production of PCB plating inks. After a period of time, due to the substantial reduction in costs and the shortened production cycle, many multi-layer mills also used this ink to complete the processing of the inner plates and received satisfactory results. Some large-scale double-faced manufacturers also use the automatic line production method of double-sided roll-coating into the drying tunnel to obtain a multiplier effect. So far, the application of this ink has basically spread to small and medium enterprises. With the inward migration of printing plates factories in Hong Kong and Taiwan, some advanced coating methods (such as spraying, electrostatic spraying, dip coating, etc.) have also been introduced to mainland China, and the application and promotion of photoimaging resist plating inks A great promotion.