Electronics

Room-temperature vulcanizing silicone elastomers from WACKER reliably protect against external influences, which ensures the functional safety of electrical and electronic components. As one of the world’s leading silicone manufacturers with many years of experience, WACKER is a competent partner of the industry and offers tailor-made solutions for potting, bonding, sealing and coating.

Potting & Encapsulation with Gels

WACKER offers a wide range of one- and two-component products for potting and encapsulation applications. Soft to extra-soft silicone gels minimize the thermomechanical stress on sensitive components such as bonded ICs and ensure they function properly, even if the temperature fluctuates dramatically or if they are subjected to powerful vibrations. Gels with a particularly low concentration of volatile components and low bleeding are gaining importance in sensor applications.

Main Properties:

For applications in closed housings
Low modulus of elasticity (10 – 100 kPa)
Damping of thermomechanical stress
Broad range of application temperatures (-45 to +180 °C)
Superior reliability
Low ion levels
Low bleeding
Tailor-made processing properties for fast mass production
Room-temperature or heat curing (one-component)
Self-leveling and thixotropic gels
Adhesion to various substrates due to inherent tack

Soft Gel Applications:

Sensitive electronic components
ECUs
Power modules
Discrete devices (glob tops)
Sensors
Displays
Bonded ICs

Tough Gel Applications:

Voltage regulators
Transformer potting
Coil potting
Junction boxes for PV applications

Automotive Electronics

WACKER’s wide portfolio of silicones provides suitable solutions for the specific challenges faced by the automotive sector: silicones deliver robust protection for sensitive electronics and ensure functional safety and thermal management. They are also highly efficient in processing and production.

Benefits:

Soft gels (encapsulation)
Low and high temperature grades
Elastic adhesives
Efficient mass production processes using fast heat-curing adhesives at moderate temperatures
Thermally conductive gap fillers, adhesives, pastes and encapsulants (0.5 – 4 W/mK)
Low-temperature grades allow applications down to -45 °C and high-temperature grades up to +210 °C

Applications:

Sealing of electronic control units and housings
Protection of electronic components by potting or encapsulating
Bonding of hybrid PCBs
Sealing/bonding of housing components (CIPG, FIPG and preformed gaskets)
Coating or bonding of individual elements (e.g. MEMS)
Thermal management solutions such as bonding to heat sinks, encapsulants and gap fillers

Measurement & Control

Accuracy, reliability and durability are of crucial importance in I&C engineering. This means that components need the best possible protection. While customized silicone products in the ELASTOSIL^®, SEMICOSIL^® and WACKER SilGel^® ranges are used to coat and encapsulate sensitive electronic components, low viscosity silicone fluids in the WACKER^® AK series are used in mechanical measurement devices for pressure compensation, vibration damping or to protect precision parts from corrosion and premature wear.

Benefits:

Excellent resistance at temperatures ranging from -50 °C to +180 °C; for special types, from -110 °C +220 °C
Very good adhesion to a wide variety of substrates
Excellent weathering and UV resistance
Outstanding dielectric properties that barely change over a wide temperature and frequency range
No corrosive components
Excellent environmental compatibility
Water-repellent and low moisture absorption
Excellent vibration damping
High chemical purity

Applications:

Coating and encapsulation of sensitive components (measuring instruments, system control)
Coating of selected areas of a component
Sealing of sensor elements
Sealing of housing components
Sealing of MEMS microphones and speakers
Corrosion protection, pressure compensation and vibration damping for electromechanical sensor elements

Displays & Optical Bonding

The products in the LUMISIL^® series are two-component, highly transparent silicones of the highest optical quality. They are ideal for laminating or frame bonding displays.

Benefits:

High reliability – excellent for harsh testing conditions
Low shrinkage (< 0.1 %, before/after cure)
Mura-free
Extremely low modulus (10 kPa – 200 kPa)
Superior optical reliability/precision (after aging)
Solutions for all relevant industrial application processes (dam & fill, dispensing, slot-die coating, screen printing, stencil printing)
Fast processing (UV-active grades)
Low elastic modulus – better for one glass solution (OGS), wide temperature range
Low dielectric constant (2.7 – 2.8)
Easy to rework and cost-saving
Broad range of processing parameters
No oxygen inhibition
No photo-initiators used

Applications:

Optical bonding/laminating of touchscreens
Encapsulation of optical and electronic components
Production of damping elements
Large-format displays
Displays inside a vehicle

Bonding & Sealing

WACKER’s silicone adhesives are easy to apply either manually or with automatic dosing equipment. Compared with mechanical joining methods, silicone sealing adhesives not only reduce the number of parts (bolts, rivets etc.), but also the number of processing steps, thereby helping to minimize complexity and production times.

Main Properties:

Low-modulus sealing adhesives
Very good ability to bond
Flowable to non-sag
Sealing between cover/lids and housing
Pronounced damping properties
Broad temperature range (-45°C to +180°C)
Damping of thermomechanical stress
Maximum reliability and long-term performance
Tailor-made properties for efficient and fast production processes

Applications:

Electronic components
FIPG and CIPG applications
Housing and lids made from PBT, PA and aluminum
Suitable for automated processes

Power Electronics

In response to rising operating temperatures in power modules, WACKER has developed high-temperature-resistant silicone gels that can guarantee safe operation even at temperatures exceeding 200 °C.

UV-curing silicones offer UV-induced curing at room temperature thus enabling extremely short cycle times and increased line throughput, resulting in shorter production times and reduced energy costs.