The heat dissipation issue in new energy vehicles has always been a focal point of attention. Traditional cooling technologies can no longer meet the heat dissipation requirements of lithium batteries. Due to their unique advantages, thermal conductive silicone gaskets are receiving increasing attention as a solution to this problem. These gaskets can compensate for manufacturing tolerances, reduce the requirements for precision in radiator and heat dissipation components, and improve thermal conductivity and stability. Additionally, they offer benefits such as vibration damping, sound absorption, and electromagnetic compatibility.

Chenxi has nuxmerous customers in the automotive chip manufacturing industry who require thermal conductivity solutions. It supplies them with a range of silicone gels suitable for use as Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs). This article takes Chenshi’s best-selling two-component, addition-cured silicone gel, CX-3425AB elastomeric thermal gel, as an example to illustrate how silicone materials can be utilized to create highly efficient thermal conductive materials for automotive chips.

Manufacturers of thermal conductive gaskets for automotive chips generally require that these gaskets be soft and elastic. Some customers have specific requirements as follows:

1. The gasket should have a thickness of 3–4 mm, a Shore hardness of 0020, excellent elasticity, and low powder shedding.
2. When the gasket is pressed onto aluminum plates under a pressure of 20 N at a temperature of 100°C for 72 hours, it should not shed any powder upon removal.
3. The thickness and flexibility of the thermal conductive silicone gel sheet should be adjustable depending on the design requirements.

Project challenges

The difficulty of this project lies in:

1. The customer requires that the gasket be soft and possess good elasticity and toughness. However, organic silicone gel usually loses its elasticity and toughness due to being too soft.
2. the customer demands that the gasket does not shed powder or release oil during heat aging tests. This means the silicone gel must maintain good powder-encapsulating properties while remaining soft, and at the same time, have a low oil release rate. These are conflicting requirements that need to be balanced in the product’s properties.