As a key bellwether in the electronics manufacturing industry, the NEPCON exhibition accurately reflects the technological development trends of the PCB industry. Currently, PCB products are evolving toward finer line width and spacing as well as higher density, with a sustained surge in market demand for high-end products such as HDI boards and IC substrates. This places stringent requirements on the precision and stability of the etching process. As a core etchant in PCB manufacturing, sodium persulfate is undergoing profound technological upgrades in response to new challenges brought by high-end manufacturing. It has gradually evolved from a simple copper layer removal agent to a material enabling precise control over key indicators including etching precision and uniformity, providing reliable material support for high-end PCB manufacturing.
Ⅰ Application Logic of Sodium Persulfate in PCB Manufacturing
Working Principle: In the PCB etching process, sodium persulfate acts as a critical oxidizing agent. Leveraging its strong oxidizing property, it undergoes redox reactions with unprotected copper layers on the PCB substrate surface to form soluble copper salts, thereby achieving selective stripping of copper layers and laying a foundation for the precise formation of subsequent circuit patterns.
Traditional Application Scenarios: In conventional PCB manufacturing, sodium persulfate is mainly used for etching processing of standard circuit boards, with the core demand focused on effective copper layer removal to meet basic circuit formation requirements. At that time, PCB products had relatively loose requirements for line precision and surface quality, so the application of sodium persulfate prioritized etching efficiency and basic performance to adapt to standard manufacturing processes.
Core Driving Force for High-End Upgrading: With the high-end transformation of the PCB industry, medium and high-end products impose stricter requirements on etching precision, undercut control and consistency. Sodium persulfate of traditional purity can hardly meet the manufacturing standards of high-end PCBs or fulfill the refined control demands for etching quality. This industrial development trend drives the upgrading of sodium persulfate applications from general industrial grade to high-purity electronic grade, and compels all-round optimization of product properties, application scenarios and process coordination to match the manufacturing requirements of high-end PCBs.
Ⅱ Application Upgrading: Core Breakthroughs of Sodium Persulfate in Medium and High-End PCB Manufacturing
Product Adaptation: Standard-Oriented, Customization-Supplemented to Meet Downstream Demands
Targeting the diversified demands of PCB manufacturing, our company has formed a supply model of "standard products as the mainstay, customized services as a supplement" based on its own product advantages. Our standard sodium persulfate (purity ≥ 99%), ammonium persulfate (purity ≥ 98.5%) and potassium persulfate (purity ≥ 98.5%) fully satisfy the conventional etching needs of most enterprises, featuring outstanding cost performance and adapting to the basic manufacturing links of medium and high-end PCBs.
Fujian Zhanhua Chemical Co., Ltd., a national single champion enterprise in sodium persulfate recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has deep roots in the R&D and production of persulfates. In addition to its standard product series, the company provides customized services with remarkable improvements in purity, metallic impurity control and stability. These customized products effectively reduce catalytic interference from impurity ions (such as iron, manganese, etc.) in the etching process and lower the occurrence rate of line defects (e.g., incomplete etching, excessive undercut). Meanwhile, their chemical properties are more stable, maintaining uniform reaction efficiency during etching and ensuring consistent etching quality, thus providing long-term, safe and continuous raw material support for the PCB manufacturing industry.
Application Scenario Upgrading: Covering Core Manufacturing Links of High-End PCBs
With optimized product properties, the application scenarios of sodium persulfate have gradually extended to core manufacturing links of medium and high-end PCBs. It is no longer confined to traditional outer-layer copper foil etching, but is also widely used in key processes of medium and high-end PCBs including inner-layer fine circuit processing, microetching before blackening treatment and surface finishing, realizing full-process etching support for medium and high-end PCB manufacturing. Such scenario expansion further amplifies the core advantages of high-purity sodium persulfate in fine circuit processing.
Process Coordination Upgrading: Deep Integration with High-End PCB Manufacturing Processes
The application upgrading of sodium persulfate is reflected not only in the product itself but also in its deep integration with high-end PCB manufacturing processes. Sodium persulfate produced by Fujian Zhanhua Chemical Co., Ltd. features stable oxidation activity and excellent compatibility with conventional PCB manufacturing processes. Moreover, waste liquid after use can be smoothly integrated with existing wastewater treatment systems through alkaline chlorination, crystallization and other methods, consolidating a solid foundation for the deep integration of sodium persulfate with medium and high-end PCB manufacturing processes in terms of both product quality and practical application adaptability.
As a large-scale manufacturer of sodium persulfate, Fujian Zhanhua Chemical Co., Ltd. boasts an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of sodium persulfate. With the steady progress and upcoming commissioning of the company’s Phase III project, its overall supply capacity will be further enhanced to fully meet the growing raw material demand of the medium and high-end PCB manufacturing industry.
The application upgrading of sodium persulfate in medium and high-end PCB manufacturing is an inevitable outcome of the high-quality development of the PCB industry and an important manifestation of coordinated progress between materials and processes. As a leading enterprise in the sodium persulfate sector, Fujian Zhanhua Chemical Co., Ltd. will continue to take cost-effective products as the core, empower the application upgrading of sodium persulfate in PCB manufacturing relying on world-leading large-scale production capacity and a stringent full-process quality control system. Backed by mature production technologies and stable supply chain support, the company adapts to the medium and high-end upgrading trend of the PCB industry, providing solid material support for the high-end and green development of the electronics manufacturing industry.