4. Moisture is the amount of water in any form in a material
It is a component of molecular makeup for all material
Excessive or deficient moisture adversely impact the physical
properties of a material
INTRODUCTION
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Moisture Measurement
6. MOISTURE MEASUREMENT INSIDE
ELECTRONIC DEVICES
USING ULTRACAPACITOR
Ultracapacitor:Electrochemical capacitor with relatively high
energy density
Lack of dielectric permits packaging of plates with large
surface area into a given volume
Formed of ordinary activated carbon electrodes
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Moisture Measurement
7. CONTD…
No liquid electrolyte exists inside the device
Electrodes are placed on both sides of a layer of porous
silicon
Potassium hydroxide in powder form is embedded inside
porous silicon
Useful for monitoring moisture penetration inside small
electronic devices
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Moisture Measurement
8. CONTD…
As moisture penetrates the porous silicon layer, a liquid
electrolyte starts to form
Presence of moisture causes:
• Conductivity of electrolyte increases
• Hence the capacitance of the ultracapacitor increases
• Results in high capacitance
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Moisture Measurement
11. MOISTURE MEASUREMENT OF SKIN
Importance: Needed for the identification and prevention of
ECZYMA
Method adopted for skin moisture measurement:capacitance
method(Interdigital Capacitor)
Mild case of eczyma
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Moisture Measurement
12. CONTD…
Stratum corneum is the outermost layer of the skin
It is composed of dead skin cells, a protein called
Keratin, naturally secreted oils
Dry skin exhibits a lack of oils results in cracking of the
stratum corneum
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Moisture Measurement
15. CONTD…
INTERDIGITAL CAPACITOR:
IDC is the core component in capacitance method
It contains thin strips of copper
Moisture is measured as proportional increase in capacitance
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Moisture Measurement
16. CONTD…
SCATTERFIELD EFFECT:
• Deviation of the linear path from one plate to the other
• Important concept in the design of an IDC
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Moisture Measurement
Interdigital capacitance
17. CONTD…
CAPACITANCE MEASURING CIRCUIT:
Circuit to measure the increase in capacitance is required
“Add on capacitance meter” is used for the purpose
Add on capacitance circuit is used to identify capacitors of the
range 1pF to 100pF
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Moisture Measurement
19. CONTD…
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Circuit charges the test capacitor via a resistor selected by the
rotary switch
Circuit charges the largest capacitor (in the range) in exactly
100 units of time
Voltmeter works only when the pin 6 of 74c14 IC is low
Voltmeter gives the reading corresponding to the test
capacitance
Moisture Measurement
20. CONTD…
MICROCONTROLLER :
Project incoporates AVR butterfly microcontroller
It has an ADC converter built in, labelled as Voltage V_in
Microcontroller takes data from the ADC port (V_in) and
performs the conversion
It produces a value of 0 on the display when the device is
turned on and IDC is exposed to air
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Moisture Measurement
24. MOISTURE MEASUREMENT IN PCB
EFFECTS OF MOISTURE IN PCB :
Moisture reduces the quality of lamination and solder
Excessive moisture increases dielectric constant leading to
changes in circuit switching speed
Ionic corrosion causes electrical open circuit or short circuit
High levels of residual moisture in PCBs causes delamination
during soldering
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Moisture Measurement
25. CONTD…
Moisture enters the PCB when the partial pressure of the
moisture is greater to that inside the PCB
Focused on capacitance measurements to follow the
absorption and desorption behaviour of moisture
Capacitance is dependent on permitivity (which is dependent
on moisture)
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Moisture Measurement
27. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Test boards are designed with capacitors situated on inner
layers between external copper planes
It is placed in 85°C and 85 per cent relative humidity (RH)
environment
Moisture removal at bake temperatures of 80, 110 and 125°C
is monitered
Capacitance is periodically measured at a frequency of 100
kHz
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Moisture Measurement
28. 8/3/2013 DEPT ECE,SNMIMT,Maliankara 28
(a)Test board showing plated and non-plated through holes
at different densities (b) Illustration of the internal grid
capacitors
Dimensioned capacitor design
Moisture Measurement
29. CAPACITANCE MEASURED
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Effect of non-PTH hole density on average capacitance decrease for the test boards baked at (a)
80°C, (b) 110°C and (c) 125°C
Moisture Measurement
30. CONTD…
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Comparison of PTH and non-PTH on the capacitance decrease with bake time at 125°C for
three hole densities
Moisture Measurement
31. CONTD…
Average capacitance decreases more quickly for higher hole
densities due to the increase in surface area
Capacitance decreases faster for boards with non-PTH such
boards require shorter bake time
PTH boards have a smaller exposed surface area than non-
PTH boards so moisture cannot escape so easily
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Moisture Measurement
32. MODELLING PTH AND NON-PTH IN
COPPER PLANES
Modelling is done to compare different moisture desorption
capability of PTH and non-PTH boards during a baking
Model boards are subjected to stimulated baking
Model consisted of a PCB with a 0.4 mm hole repeated
infinitely in both x and y directions and with a pitch of 4 mm
Extra model was created to represent copper planes on inner
layers only
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Moisture Measurement
33. CONTD…
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(a) Non-PTH with copper plane on outer layers, (b) PTH with copper plane on ouer layers and
(c) PTH with internal copper planes
Moisture Measurement
34. MODELLED MOISTURE PROFILE :
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Modelled moisture profile (a) non-PTH with copper plane on outer
layers, (b) PTH with copper plane on outer layers and (c) PTH with
internal copper planes
Moisture Measurement
CONTD…
35. CONTD…
Dark blue colour represents saturation and light yellow as dry
regions
Moisture exits non-PTH PCB model more quickly as moisture
can escape more easily from the greater open surface area
For PTH board, rate of moisture loss is slower as moisture
must diffuse a greater distance to find surface free from
copper
For boards with internal copper planes moisture rapidly exists
first,then becomes slow
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Moisture Measurement
36. CONTD…
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Modelled effect of bake time on the mean moisture content in the central
region (1 mm off the copper plane) in boards PTH and non-PTH boards.
Moisture Measurement
37. ADVANTAGES
ULTRACAPACITOR SKIN MOISTURE SENSOR
Long life High accuracy
Low cost portability
Extremely low internal resistance inexpensive
High output power and Improved safety
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Moisture Measurement
38. DISADVANTAGES
ULTRACAPACITOR SKIN MOISTURE SENSOR
Highest dielectric absorption Difficulty in producing the device
Low maximum voltage Not a handheld device
High self discharge
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Moisture Measurement
39. FUTURE SCOPE
SCOPE OF ULTRACAPACITOR IN PACEMAKER:
Pacemaker helps to monitor and control your heartbeat
It consists of a battery, a computerized generator, and wires
with sensors at their tips
Malfunction can occur if moisture happens to be inside the
device
Ultracapacitor can be used inside the device to check the
amount of moisture
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Moisture Measurement
42. CONTD…
A processed material's MC will define its physical properties at
all stages of processing and final product existence
Non-destructive methods are preferred andeach method
discussed has specific applications
Moisture analysis means testing at the point of
processing, and making adjustments before product integrity
is effected
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Moisture Measurement
43. REFERENCE
Design of a handheld skin moisture measuring device for application
towards eczema, By Scott Truong
Moisture measurements in pcbs and impact of design on desorption
behaviour , Chris Hunt,, National Physical Laboratory, UK
N.P. Avdelidis, P. I. Nicholson & P. Wallace, ”Pulsed thermography in the
investigation of PCBs for defect detection & analysis”,
www.wikipedia.org
www.ecma-international.org
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