Materials, Chemicals and Adhesives

Materials, chemicals and adhesives and a large variety of mechanical and chemical compounds and devices that are used in the construction of products. They can also be things used in the manufacture or design of products. Some chemicals are used in the ongoing maintenance of the product when it is in the field.
Thermal pastes, greases, pads and adhesives are a large subsection of this product category. Many designs require heat to be guided away from the electronics and dissipated either through a heatsink or a heatsink-fan combination. Heatsinks are frequently bonded to semiconductor packages by thermal pastes, pads greases or adhesives. In many cases, adhesive pads are attached to the heatsink and stuck on the semiconductor by removing a non-stick tab and pressing the heatsink onto the device. Other applications require a thermal grease to provide a good thermal connection between a device and the mechanical heat sink.
There are special materials that are designed for the suppression of electromagnetic radiation that can be adhered over circuitry to reduce their electromagnetic radiation or the amount of radiation that is coupling into the circuit. Sometimes devices like power transformers require special potting mix resins to retain their windings. Nuts and bolts may also require glue (for example loctite) to prevent them undoing due to vibration. Also electromechanical parts with moving elements may require lubricating oils. Oils may also be required on rubber bushings and boots to preserve and protect them from the environment.
Shielded bags are used in manufacturing to store and transport sensitive electronic devices. Manufacturing requires solder in wire or paste form, and flux to enable the solder to adhere and flow in joints. In many cases the soldering or solder reflow processes can damage temperature sensitive devices, so special tapes are used to shield them from the heat (for example Kapton tape). Silicon adhesives are frequently used to stick down elements like labels on products, and silicon sealant is used when there are conduits that need sealing from environmental ingression. Tapes are frequently used to retain cables in products and insulting tapes to protect them from physically electrically shorting to other conductive elements.