Sodium Silicate Composite Filled by Zinc Oxide as Low Resistance Thermal Grease

Thermal interface material (TIM) is a solution for handling the heat generated by electronic components such as the central processing unit (CPU). CPU thermal management is important to maintain the performance and endurance of the CPU itself. Thermal interface material the type of thermal grease in the form of a composite is very suitable for use on the CPU. Sodium silicate as a matrix and zinc oxide as fillers has many advantages compared to silicon and metal as the raw material for making thermal grease for CPU which is widely used today. This research aims to produce thermal grease for CPU that has better quality than those on the market today, especially when viewed from the value of thermal resistance. Thermal grease is made by mixing nanosized zinc oxide fillers and sodium silicate matrix with filler concentrations of 14 wt%, 18 wt%, and 20 wt%. Thermal resistance is determined by the application-specific test method against time and compared with thermal grease on the market today. The results showed that thermal grease with sodium silicate matrix and 16 wt% zinc oxide filler had 0.0123 °C/W of thermal resistance which was lower than the market thermal grease. (paper)