Advantages and disadvantages of common thermal conductive materials (thermal conductive silicone sheets, thermal grease) and their application environments

It can fill the gaps between heating elements and heat sinks, has a large adjustable thickness, compensates for tolerances effectively, has good insulation properties, a relatively large compression amount, and certain shock absorption effects. The surface of the silicone sheet has a slight stickiness, making it highly operable, and it has a relatively long service life.

Thermal conductive silicone sheet:

Advantages: Can fill the gaps between heating devices and heat sinks, adjustable thickness, strong tolerance compensation, good insulation, relatively large compression, certain shock absorption effect, the surface of the silicone sheet has micro-stickiness, strong operability, relatively long service life.

Disadvantages: The manufacturing process below 0.5MM is complex, and the cost is relatively high.

Application environment: In cases where there is a large gap between heating components and heat sinks, thermal conduction between heating components and the casing.

Thermal conductive grease:

Advantages: The product is in a semi-liquid state, has a relatively high thermal conductivity, can be applied thinly, fills gaps well to improve contact between heating devices and heat sinks, resulting in relatively low thermal resistance, and the cost is lower compared to silicone sheets.

Disadvantages: The application thickness cannot be too thick, otherwise it will reduce thermal conductivity, generally the thickness should not be less than 0.2MM, not suitable for large area applications, not very convenient to operate, easy to age at high temperatures after long-term use, will dry out and increase thermal resistance, has certain volatility.

Application environment: Between high-power heating components and heat sinks, the heat dissipation components need to have their own fixing devices.

Thermal conductive double-sided tape:

Advantages: Very low thickness, generally below 0.3MM, has strong adhesion, can be used to fix small heat sinks.

Disadvantages: Thickness cannot be too thick, cannot be used if there is a certain gap in the product, cannot be reused, and has a lower thermal conductivity.

Application scenario: Between low-power heat sources and small heat sinks, commonly used to fix heat sinks.

Phase change materials:

Advantages: At room temperature, in sheet form, relatively thin, strong operability, will undergo a phase change to a semi-liquid state at a certain temperature, strong gap-filling ability, and has instantaneous heat absorption capacity during the phase change process.

Disadvantages: Difficult to store and transport, relatively high cost.

Application environment: Generally used more on heat dissipation modules.

Keywords: Heating Coils