Conductive Adhesives
Conductive adhesives offer electrical or thermal conductivity between the components
they seal together. The adhesives accomplish this conductivity by mixing metal
powders and flakes with either single component or two-part epoxy or adhesive.
The metals used may be silver, nickel, copper and silver-coated nickel. Silver
offers the most electrical conductivity and graphite adhesive formulations
have also been developed for applications in which metallic additives are not
desirable.
Conductive adhesives can be dispensed in dots or small lines to make electrical
connections between two components. Curing may be accomplished using heat,
UV light or moisture. Depending on their intended use and formulation the
conductive adhesives may be flexible or rigid, thermally conductive, moisture-resistant
and have varying degrees of viscosity.
The use of conductive adhesives is most common in the electronics and electrical
industry. These adhesives may be used in die attachment, electro-plating, heat
sink assembly, medical electrodes, solder masking, hard disk drive components,
hearing aids and many other applications.