Dr. Boxin Zhao, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Institute for Polymer Research, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1

Biography: Dr. Boxin Zhao is a tenured associate professor in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is also affiliated with Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, and Institute for Polymer Research. Dr. Zhao obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University in 2004. Before joining the University of Waterloo, Dr. Zhao had worked as a NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. At Waterloo, Professor Zhao has established the Laboratory of Surface Science and Bionanomaterials, working on both fundamental and applied research to meet the growing need of bionanotechnologies in advanced manufacturing, e.g. multifunctional green and smart materials and processes, additive manufacture or 3D printing. He have 160 publications in total; 78 are peer-refereed papers on the top journals including Macromolecules, Langmuir, J. Materials Chemistry, Carbon, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials. His research work has been well recognized in the field and has been invited to deliver talks and lectures to Celestica, Xerox and Magna and other national and international conferences. He was awarded the Early Researcher Award from the Province of Ontario in 2012 and was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at UCSB from Fulbright Canada in 2015. The current research interests of his group are in the areas of multifunctional composites, interfacial technologies and surface science, biomimetic adhesion and adhesives, biopolymers, 3D printing, interfacial phenomena and contact dynamics (e.g., wetting, adhesion, friction, lubrication, wear, fracture) in polymers and biological systems.

Speech Title: Development and utilization of conductive nanofillers in electrically conductive adhesives
Abstract: Electrically conductive adhesives are composite materials consisting of a polymer matrix and conductive fillers; they have been widely used in the electronic industries where only moderate conductivity are required. Compared to the soldering and wire bonding technologies, polymer -based electrical conductive adhesives (ECAs) have many advantages; they are environmental friendly, have lower processing temperature, and are relatively flexible and bendable. These features are much desired for the interconnect materials used in advanced flexible electronics such as smart card, biosensor, plastic displays, and wearable devices. However, currently commercialized conductive adhesives have limitations particularly in their electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. In this talk, I will present our recent development of high-conductivity ECAs by exploiting nanoscale fillers, including silver nanoparticles, polypyrrole nanofiber, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate complex. The surface functionalization of these nanofillers and their dispersion in epoxy resin, curing and electrical and mechanical characterizations of the composites will be discussed.
Keywords: Conductive adhesives; Epoxy composite; Nanofillers; Adhesives; Interconnect materials