Thermal adhesive is a type of thermally conductive

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

used for electronic components and heat sinks. It can be available as a paste (similar to thermal paste) or as a double-sided tape. It is commonly used to bond

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

s to heatsinks where there are no other mounting mechanisms available. The glue is typically a two-part

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also coll ...

resin (usually for paste products) or

cyanoacrylate Cyanoacrylates are a family of strong fast-acting adhesives with industrial, medical, and household uses. They are derived from ethyl cyanoacrylate and related esters. The cyanoacrylate group in the monomer rapidly polymerizes in the presence ...

(for tapes). The thermally conductive material can vary including metals, metal oxides, silica or ceramic

microsphere Microparticles are particles between 0.1 and 100 μm in size. Commercially available microparticles are available in a wide variety of materials, including ceramics, glass, polymers, and metals. Microparticles encountered in daily life includ ...

s. The latter are found in products that have much higher dielectric strength, although this comes at the cost of lower thermal conductivity. End-user modding heatsinks may be supplied with thermal adhesive attached (usually a piece of tape). For products sold through electronic components distributors this is rarely the case; the adhesives are sold separately to professionals.

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