Thermal conductive gel is a high-viscosity gel-like thermal interface material (TIM) made by mixing thermally conductive fillers with polymer resin as the base material. Its core function is to fill the micro-gaps between heat-generating components and heat dissipation structures in electronic devices, enabling efficient heat conduction by reducing contact thermal resistance. Essentially, it solves the problem of heat transfer efficiency loss caused by uneven surfaces between “heat sources and heat dissipators”, and is an indispensable key material in the process of high performance and miniaturization of electronic devices.
Thermal Conductive Gel: The Core Material for Electronic Thermal
- Core Application Points: Narrow-space components such as mobile phone CPUs/GPUs, camera modules, laptop power management chips, and LED driver modules.
- Demand Characteristics: Requires low modulus (to avoid pressure damage to components) and high thixotropy (to prevent flowing after dispensing). The thermal conductivity is concentrated in the range of 2-6 W/(m·K).
- Market Share: In 2023, the domestic consumer electronics sector accounted for 34.2%, making it the largest application market.
- Core Application Points: High-temperature components in vibrating environments, such as BMS (Battery Management System), motor controllers, and OBC (On-Board Charger) of new energy vehicles, as well as ECUs (Electronic Control Units) of traditional vehicles.
- Demand Characteristics: Must pass IATF 16949 certification, with a temperature resistance range covering -55℃ to 175℃. Two-component products with a thermal conductivity of 8-10 W/(m·K) are more preferred.
- Market Scale: In 2024, the automotive-grade market scale exceeded 900 million yuan. The consumption of high-end electric vehicles reaches 1.5-2.5 kg per vehicle, and the demand scale is expected to reach 1.82 billion yuan by 2026.
- Industrial Electronics: Equipment requiring long-term stable operation, such as server computing chips and industrial frequency converters. It requires a thermal conductivity of ≥6 W/(m·K) and resistance to damp heat (performance attenuation ≤10% after 1000 hours in an environment of 85℃/85% RH).
- Communication Equipment: 5G base station power amplifier modules and remote radio units (RRUs), which need to be adapted to high-temperature environments above 50℃. The demand reached 1,850 tons in 2024 and will rise to 3,200 tons by 2026.
- Data Centers: AI servers are driving explosive demand. The market scale was 420 million yuan in 2024, and is expected to reach 780 million yuan by 2026, with a CAGR of 36.3%.
- Production Side: Fully automatic coating production lines have increased the yield rate of enterprises such as Liantengda by 5% and reduced labor costs by 30%.
- Global Market: The scale reached 254 million yuan in 2024, with a growth rate of over 7% in 2025.
- Chinese Market: The scale was 286 million yuan in 2023 and is expected to exceed 450 million yuan by 2026, with a CAGR of 16.8%.
- Core Drivers: Three major engines—new energy vehicles (sales volume is expected to reach 15.8 million units by 2026), large-scale deployment of 5G base stations, and AI server (computing power upgrade)—contribute more than 58% of the demand.
- Performance Upgrade: Thermal conductivity is breaking through to 10-14 W/(m·K). For example, Jinling Tongda’s XK-G140 product has reached 14 W/(m·K), adapting to ultra-high-power scenarios.
- Functional Integration: Integrating properties such as electromagnetic shielding and adhesion. For instance, Ru Teng’s HiGeI-RC series has both thermal conductivity and protection functions.
- Process Innovation: Upgraded vacuum preparation technology reduces internal bubbles in materials and further lowers thermal resistance to below 0.12 K·cm²/W.
