Can thermal gel replace thermal grease?

With the development of the times, people’s lives are inseparable from the existence of electricity. All kinds of products that require electric power are flooded with all aspects of people’s lives. When electrical appliances are in operation, resistance will inevitably emit heat. If the heat is not dissipated in time, Electrical appliances may be short-circuited due to high temperature, so solving the heat dissipation problem of the body becomes the focus of thermal design engineers.

As a traditional thermal conductive material-thermal conductive silicone grease has always been popular with thermal design engineers. It is a gap-filling thermal conductive material based on silicone resin. Its excellent lubricity can quickly fill the micropores of the interface. Reduce interface thermal resistance. Under normal storage conditions, it will not dry and hard, and has good thixotropy, which is convenient for people to use. Since the production process of thermal conductive silicone grease is simpler than other thermal conductive materials, its price phase change is lower.

After years of development, a variety of new types of thermal conductive materials have been introduced. The thermal conductive gel that has been jokingly replaced by thermal conductive silicone grease has gradually attracted the attention of thermal design engineers. Why does the industry believe that thermal conductive gel is expected to replace thermal conductive silicone grease? Let me explain it to you!

Thermally conductive gel is a soft silicone resin thermal gap filling thermal conductive material with high thermal conductivity, low interface thermal resistance and good thixotropy. It is an ideal material for applications with large gap tolerances. The same is a paste-like mixture. Compared with the flowing state of thermal conductive silicone grease, the use process of thermal conductive gel is more like plasticine, without any flow and sedimentation.

Thermally conductive gel combines the advantages of thermally conductive silicone grease and thermally conductive gaskets, while avoiding the defects of both. Thermal conductive gel is a silicone grease mixed with high thermal conductivity particles (such as alumina, silver powder, etc.), and then low-molecular siloxane is cross-linked through a heat treatment process, and then a gel is formed.

Thermal conductive gel is a gel state substance between liquid and solid. It not only has the characteristics of shape recovery, strong material cohesion, high heat resistance, good long-term thermal stability, etc., but also has the same characteristics as thermal conductive silicone grease. Low thermal resistance, can fill gaps, and has high adhesion.

The thermal gel is generally packaged in a syringe, and there is no gas in the thermal gel. It is very convenient and efficient to use as long as it is installed on the dispensing machine. The thermal conductive silicone grease is generally used for filling and packaging. Although it is thick and can be formulated, it cannot be changed to flow. Screen printing or manual gluing can be used. Although it is convenient, manual operation is still used.

Compared with thermal conductive silicone grease, the main difference between thermal conductive gel and thermal conductive silicone grease is that the thermal conductive gel does not cause silicone oil to precipitate, and the thermal conductive gel can be torn off and reused. When the thermal gel is connected to the heat sink and the chip, only a small working pressure is required, generally less than 10 psi, low hardness, easy to bend, and has a wide working temperature zone.

There is very little liquid precipitation of the thermal conductive gel during use, and the thermal conductive gel will never solidify after use and will not lose the thermal conductivity. Anyone who has assembled a computer knows that it needs to be re-coated with thermal grease after a period of time. Its dry solid powdering leads to a significant reduction in thermal conductivity, which also shows that the service life of thermal conductive silicone grease is relatively short among thermal conductive materials.

Although the advantages and performance of thermal conductive gel are different from thermal conductive silicone grease, it does not mean that thermal conductive silicone grease should be replaced by thermal conductive gel. It must be matched according to the customer's own needs, and the cost of thermal conductive gel is higher than that of thermal conductivity Silicone grease, so the general use of thermal gel is those high-tech products or special requirements. Thermally conductive silicone grease is still one of the widely used thermal conductive materials.