Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has developed a silicone-based material that can conduct heat and is also electrically insulating. One of its potential uses is in charging sockets.
Freudenberg's new elastomer conducts heat well, but is also electrically insulating.
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has developed an elastomer that combines silicone rubber with special fillers. This means the material can bring together both a relatively high thermal conductivity and electrically insulating properties. "Our material retains its properties over a very high temperature range, from minus 50 to plus 250 degrees centigrade, but it can be deformed with relatively low force," says Armin Striefler, Senior Application Manager at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies.
Freudenberg's material can be sprayed onto metal surfaces and has a high dielectric strength of at least 20 kilovolts per millimetre. Adding the fillers increases the heat conductivity from 0.2 to a range of 1.6 to 2 watts per metre kelvin. The material has various uses, including in charging sockets for electric cars, where the new silicone-based material must be both thermally conductive and electrically insulated. The first prototypes for a charging socket with integrated sensors are already being tested.
New material makes electric cars more efficient
"The combination of thermal conductivity and electrical insulation has great potential to make future generations of electric cars more efficient," says Joachim Heinemann, Technical Director of Special Seals at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies. The thermally conductive elastomers can also be used to dissipate heat in control units or in the battery busbars.