Electronics

Overview
In the electronics industry, polypropylene glycols are used in capacitor fluids, solder assist fluids, and water-soluble flux formulations for cleaning metal surfaces on printed circuit boards.

A typical water-soluble flux consists of three components: a solvent, an activator, and a vehicle. Solvents are typically alcohols or glycols. Activators are typically amine hydrohalides or acids. Vehicles are typically polypropylene glycols and their octyl or nonyl derivatives.

When used as vehicles in water-soluble flux formulations, polypropylene glycols provide high temperature retention for otherwise volatile and thermally unstable activators. This gives the activators more time to clean the metal surfaces on a circuit board.

Products
The following product can be used in electronics applications. Water soluble SYNALOX* Fluids are available throughout Europe for electronics applications.

Dow also offers CARBOWAX™ polyethylene glycol for use as a water-soluble fluid in the wire saw process to slice ingots into wafers, UCON™ Solder Assist Fluids for use in PCB fabrication and assembly, and DOWFAX* nonionic surfactants for use in defoamer formulations to control foam in the developing stage of PCB manufacturing.

Also see DOWFAX noionic surfactants in Latin America

®™^* Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow