Experimental § Transparent flame-retardant epoxy resin
The inorganic flame retardant used in the resin inducing the hardened product to become opaque. You must choose organic flame retardants that are compatible with the resin to have transparent formulations, which is the most challenging part of the formulation development. The halogen-free, transparent flame-retardant formulations we’ve studied, have achieved success in two hardening systems, acid anhydride, and mercaptan. Using phosphorus-based flame retardants, the two-component amine hardener formulation we’ve developed can also meet the requirements of transparent flame retardancy. The new product has many features: (1) A:B=2:1, it can be mixed with a tube, the viscosity is below 10,000cps (Figure 1, 2); (2) Tg after curing at room temperature is 50℃; (3) ) High surface hardness, Shore D is between 75-80 (Figure 3); (4) Excellent flame retardancy. Put the 3mm test piece on the flame and flame for 10 seconds, then remove it from the fire source and record the burning seconds, repeat 2 times. We measured the flame extinguishing seconds to be 0 and 1, which meets the requirements of UL94 V-0 (Figure 4). Phosphorus-based flame retardants will slow down the reaction of amines and epoxy resins, and will also cause the surface of the hardened product to absorb moisture and whiten. This will be relatively obvious in a low-temperature and high-humidity environment, which is where breakthroughs are needed in the future (Figure 5).
─Author: Miss Du Rui Yi
Activity § No barriers to communication
This year we collaborated with Chiayi University, offer 80 hours of business Chinese courses inside the company to enhance the Chinese communication skills, vocabulary use, and language acuity of foreign R&D colleagues and account salesmen. Through pre-class oral and written examinations to understanding the level of colleagues, and then selecting the proper textbooks, thus the course will officially begin (Figure 1). The learning goals are split into two stages: the first stage is to have a solid foundation of communication skills, and the second stage is to strengthen the relevant word use required for the work. The main education axis is book-based, combined with situational teaching for dialogue exercises, and practical homework exercises also improve learning benefits (Figure 2)! Except for the actual teachers, every colleague is a little instructor. Everyone gets along with each other every day, combined with tons speaking and listening. It won't take too long for them to be fluent in their Chinese.
Knowledge § Will sensitizers definitely increase the reaction rate of photohardening?
The light-cured resin essentially relies on the photoinitiator to absorb light, and then initiate the subsequent polymerization reaction. Each initiator has its maximum absorption wavelength, and the optical wavelength longer than this wavelength will not be absorbed, and then there will be no subsequent reaction. Some formulations contain pigments, substrates contain light absorbers, and even the light source itself does not have short-wavelength light... all of which can cause the photoinitiator to fail to react. The sensitizer can absorb light of longer wavelength, and then transfer the energy to the photoinitiator to make it react, so the overall reaction speed can be faster. Some photoinitiators itself can absorb long-wavelength light, and the absorption position overlaps with the sensitizer. The two rush to absorb the same wavelength of light, which will stall the reaction.
Living § Thirteen Heroes
To be true, I used to be terrified of dogs. At first, the family’s farmland needed to be taken care of, so I decided to raise three dogs to help. After getting along with each of them over time, I let my guard down. Unknowingly, we kept rasing more and more. Now we have a Corgi and twelve Meeks. They bring me a lot of cheers and mental comfort. When I felt useless, the dog never despised me, and still loved me as always; when I was weeping and crying, the dog would lick my tears, as to comfort me, saying "dear, don’t cry, we are all by your side." These small movements have healed me when I’m helpless several times. Every weekend, I will accompany them to play and feed them good food. These daily small fortunes are an integral part of my life. To let the dogs have a nice place to stretch, we raise them in a free-range way, but we once lost a dog because of this. The whole family was searching along the mountain but still couldn't find the trace. In order to prevent regrets from repeating, we helped them all wear tags and keep contact information. What touched me the most in the process of raising a dog was a stray dog: it slipped out from our farm again and again and ran back to his previous owner’s home based on memory. After many tries, the former owner was also deeply moved and decided to keep him again. .Dogs are our family members. Although they only have a short life of a bit more than ten years, but having each other aside, there will be no regrets.
─Author: Miss Man-Yun, Qiu
