Thermally conductive plastics are highly thermally conductive plastics made by uniformly filling polymer matrix materials with thermally conductive fillers. Thermally conductive plastic has light weight, uniform heat dissipation, convenient processing and high design freedom. It can be used to produce LED lamp bases, radiators, heat exchangers, pipes, heating equipment, refrigeration equipment, battery shells, electronic packaging products, etc., and are widely used in Electronics, electrical, automotive, medical, new energy, aviation and other fields.
According to the "In-depth Research and Development Prospect Forecast Report of the Thermal Conductive Plastics Industry in 2020-2025", from 2015 to 2019, the average annual compound growth rate of the global thermal conductive plastics market was 14.1%, and the market size in 2019 was approximately US$6.64 billion. North America has a developed economy. In addition to electronics, electrical, automotive, medical and other industries, emerging industries such as new energy continue to develop and become the world's largest market for thermally conductive plastics. Driven by the rapid economic development and expanding industrial scale of countries such as China and India, the Asia-Pacific region has become the region with the fastest growth in the global demand for thermally conductive plastics, and the proportion of demand is constantly increasing.
The factors affecting the performance of thermally conductive plastics mainly include the properties of the polymer matrix material, the properties of the filler, the bonding characteristics and the interaction between the matrix and the filler. The matrix materials mainly include nylon 6/nylon 66, LCP, polycarbonate, polypropylene, PPA, PBT, polyphenylene sulfide, polyether ether ketone, etc.; fillers mainly include alumina, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, graphite, high Thermal toner, etc. The thermal conductivity of different substrates and fillers is different, and the interaction between the two is different. The higher the thermal conductivity of the substrate and the filler, the better the degree of mutual bonding, and the better the performance of the thermally conductive plastic.
According to the electrical conductivity, thermally conductive plastics can be divided into two categories: thermally conductive plastics and thermally conductive insulating plastics. Thermally conductive plastics are made of metal powder, graphite, carbon powder and other conductive particles as fillers, and the products are conductive; thermally conductive insulating plastics are made of metal oxides such as alumina, metal nitrides such as aluminum nitride, and non-conductive silicon carbide. The particles are made of fillers, and the product is insulating. In comparison, thermally conductive insulating plastics have relatively low thermal conductivity, and thermally conductive and electrically conductive plastics have better thermal conductivity.
Globally, thermally conductive plastics manufacturers mainly include BASF, Bayer, Hella, Saint-Gobain, DSM, Toray, Kazuma Chemical, Mitsubishi, RTP, Celanese, and the United States. PolyOne etc. Compared with international giants, China's thermally conductive plastics companies are weaker in terms of scale and capital, and lack R&D and innovation capabilities. Except for a few companies, most companies focus on the low-end market competition, and the overall core competitiveness needs to be strengthened.
Industry analysts said that with the continuous upgrading of technology, electronic components and mechanical parts have become smaller and smaller, more and more integrated functions, heat dissipation problems have become increasingly prominent, thermal plastics have excellent comprehensive performance, and the application areas are continuously expanding. China's economy continues to grow steadily, the scale of the manufacturing industry continues to expand, and the technology continues to upgrade. The market demand for high-performance thermal conductive plastics continues to rise. In this context, China's thermally conductive plastics industry needs to continuously improve its core competitiveness to achieve import substitution of high-end products.
