Experiment § Development of Biomass materials
The plastics used every day are almost made from petroleum. Petroleum and coal are non-renewable materials and will gradually dry up. In addition, these materials will produce carbon emissions when they are discarded, so the concept of renewable materials was born. One of the renewable materials is bioplastics, which is plastic made from biomass. The current international definition of bioplastics is that bio-based plastics are greater than 25% and petroleum-based plastics are less than 75%. The most common biomass material comes from plants. Epoxy resin, amine and acid anhydride curing agents with high content of renewable substances have been developed, and the content of renewable substances is between 20-100%. As shown in Figure 1-3, these materials are commonly used to make biomass materials in the field of epoxy resins, and the most common ones are reacted into amine curing agents. At present, our laboratory has gradually introduced this type of materials, which have excellent water resistance, softness, and low temperature resistance to cracking; Relatively poor heat and solvent resistance; Another feature is that the color of natural objects is unstable, ranging from yellowish brown to dark brown. Biomaterials are getting more and more attention, and you are welcome to work with us if you are interested.
─Author: Tung-Chiao, Yang
Activity § The third-time beach cleanup
We arranged the third-time beach cleanup activity at the end of March. Before the activity started, we visited the nearby Sihu Coast Botanical Garden, and then began to clean beach. Compared with the previous beach cleanup, there was not much trash visible at a glance. What needs more attention were the bottles and jars hidden in the seams, and the fishing nets and plastic cloth under the rocks. Colleagues also brought their families to participate in beach cleanup activities. The children took tools in hand and worked with everyone to clean up the garbage. Everyone also took this opportunity to educate and tell these children to take care of the environment and keep it clean. Everyone was very happy that because of our care, the amount of trash continues to decrease. I hope that more people can join us, adopt more coasts, and protect the island of Taiwan.
Knowledge § How does IEC determine Class F and Class H ?
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has a long-term effective definition of insulation: After 20,000 hours, half of the "characteristics" of the "test object" are still "pass". For example, Class F means that more than half of the test objects are qualified after working at 155℃ for 20,000 hours. The "test object" refers to a complete electrical product, or it can refer to the material inside. As for what the "characteristic" refers to, it varies with the situation. In terms of materials, it can refer to mechanical strength, dielectric strength, weight loss, etc. The "qualified" standard is also defined by the manufacturer, such as specifying 50% of the original strength. Since 20,000 hours is too long (nearly 2 or 3 years), accelerated experiments at high temperature and short time are often designed, and the aging behavior at low temperature is estimated by equations. Based on this, it can be judged that after 20,000 hours, what is the highest temperature for half of the qualified materials, and then classify it at which level.
Living § Trial of exhibition
Business personnel in other companies usually participate in the exhibition, but our company arranged R&D personnel to participate. Colleagues said that participating in the exhibition can train courage, mouth, and coping skills. We communicated face-to-face with customers in the exhibition and had a deep understanding of customer needs. We can not only know more about customer needs, but also understand the market trend, which is very helpful for the development of new products. After seven years of development, moisture-curing products have gradually become mature and stable, and they are now able to produce 500 kilograms at a time, officially entering the mass production stage. This time, taking the opportunity of participating in the exhibition with everyone, we are currently focusing on the promotion of non-tin series and flame-resistant moisture-curing products that meet UL94V-0 specifications, hoping to achieve good results in the market. Confined in the laboratory every day, thoughts are easily imprisoned. This time we saw many new technologies and machines in the exhibition. In addition to new electronic equipments, there were also ultra-fast dispensers, which were beyond our imagination. The world changes very fast. After going out of the laboratory, we can add some inspiration to the R&D lives. Furthermore, the faster the world, the slower the heart. We have to keep training and not let ourselves be eliminated, so that our future will have unlimited possibilities.
─Author: Zhe-Yong, Lin
