Interesting update from $SHT today. 🇸🇪🔬
Smart High Tech highlighted a newly published paper in Applied Physics Letters:
“Graphene-based thermal interface materials with high through-plane thermal conductivity inspired by Baumkuchen”
Link: https://t.co/WQD1zFGYP1
At first glance, this may look like just another research publication, but me personally thinks it is much more interesting than that.
The paper shows that waste material from SHT’s own graphene film production can be reused to create a new generation of graphene-enhanced Thermal Interface Materials.
In other words:
SHT is not only developing high-end graphene-based TIM products for the most demanding applications.
They are also showing that production waste from that same process can potentially be turned into additional high-performance materials.
That matters.
The recycled graphene-based material in the study achieved:
· 49.2 W/mK through-plane thermal conductivity
· 289x higher thermal conductivity than pure epoxy
· low thermal resistance
· improved mechanical properties
· EMI shielding properties
· better LED cooling performance than a commercial silicone pad in the study
This should not be confused with SHT’s NVIDIA/Henkel high-end track.
That track is related to SHT’s higher-performance GT-TIM products.
For example, SHT’s GT300 product sheet shows:
· 300 ± 30 W/mK bulk thermal conductivity
· 2 ± 1 Kmm²/W effective thermal resistance
· high compressibility
· low density
· applications including datacenter cooling, thermal AI chiplets/modules, IC thermal testing, automotive electronics, GPU, CPU, RF, opto and power modules
So the point here is not that the recycled graphene material replaces GT90/GT200/GT300.
The point is that SHT is building a broader product stack.
At the high end:
GT-TIM / GT300-type products for the most demanding AI-chip, semiconductor and high-power applications.
Below that:
More cost-efficient graphene-enhanced TIM products made from recycled production waste.
That is where this becomes strategically interesting.
Advanced electronics systems increasingly face two major problems at the same time:
1. Heat
2. Electromagnetic interference, or EMI
Heat is obvious.
The more powerful the chip, module or system, the more heat needs to be moved away.
But EMI is less understood.
EMI is electromagnetic “noise” created by electronic components.
In high-speed and high-power systems, this noise can disturb nearby components, signals and communication paths.
This matters in:
• AI servers
• Datacenters
• 5G / telecom equipment
• Power electronics
• Automotive electronics
• Semiconductor packaging
• Advanced industrial electronics
Today, thermal management and EMI shielding are often handled with separate components.
For example:
• Thermal pads / gels for heat
• Metal shields
• Conductive gaskets
• EMI absorber films
• Conductive tapes
• Grounding materials
The problem is that many traditional EMI materials are not especially strong thermal conductors.
Public datasheets show examples such as:
• 3M EMI Absorber AB5000S: ~0.7 W/mK
• Parker Chomerics CHO-SEAL 1299: ~0.6 W/mK
• Laird GOF3000 thermal/EMI gasket: ~2.2–6.2 W/mK depending on configuration
These products are not all direct 1:1 competitors.
But the comparison highlights why SHT’s result is interesting.
A recycled graphene-based material showing 49.2 W/mK through-plane thermal conductivity, while also offering EMI shielding and mechanical performance, could be highly relevant in markets where both heat and signal integrity matter.
That is the key point:
Thermal performance + EMI shielding + mechanical properties + recycled graphene waste.
This could potentially open up additional applications beyond the very highest-end AI-chip TIM market.
For example:
• Telecom equipment
• 5G / mmWave systems
• Power modules
• Automotive electronics
• RF modules
• LED systems
• Industrial electronics
• Advanced packaging
• Datacenter hardware
Financially, this also matters.
If SHT can reuse waste from its high-end graphene film production to create additional commercial TIM products, it would improve material utilization and production economics as the company scales.
Instead of waste being a cost, it may become input material for another product family.
That has potential margin implications.
It also broadens the platform.
SHT’s high-end GT-TIM products may target the most demanding AI-chip and semiconductor applications.
This recycled graphene-based material could potentially address broader markets where heat, EMI shielding and cost efficiency all matter.
Another important point is the R&D foundation behind this.
SHT is not simply buying a generic material and trying to resell it.
The company’s technology platform has been built around graphene-based thermal management, with Prof. Johan Liu as CTO, Chairman and the key scientific figure behind the company.
His research background covers areas directly relevant to SHT’s technology, including:
• CNT / graphene assisted cooling technology
• graphene heat spreaders
• nano-thermal interface materials
• microsystems packaging
• advanced materials and manufacturing processes
• 3D additive manufacturing materials
• high-temperature conductive adhesives
• nano-soldering
His track record includes:
• 500+ published papers
• 75 patents accepted or filed
• 55 keynote / invited talks
• IEEE Fellow
• Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
• IEEE Exceptional Technical Achievement Award
• IEEE CPMT Transaction Best Paper Award in Advanced Packaging
• Magnolia Silver Award from the Shanghai government
• 70+ research projects funded by organizations such as SSF, Vinnova, Formas, EU FP6, FP7 and Horizon 2020
That matters in deep-tech.
Because in this type of market, the long-term advantage is not only the product itself.
It is also the know-how, the manufacturing process, the research network and the IP position around how the material is produced, scaled and integrated into real applications.
SHT has patents and patent applications around graphene-enhanced thermal interface pads and related manufacturing methods.
That does not guarantee commercial success.
But it does suggest that the company is trying to build a defensible technology platform rather than a commodity thermal pad business.
To me, this supports the idea that SHT is not just a single-product TIM company.
It is building a broader graphene-based thermal management platform.
The NVIDIA/Henkel track remains the most important near-term commercial story.
But developments like this show that the underlying technology platform may have more optionality than the market currently gives it credit for.
High-end GT-TIM for the most demanding AI and semiconductor applications.
Recycled graphene-based TIM materials for broader markets where heat, EMI shielding and cost efficiency all matter.
This does not change revenues tomorrow.
But to me, it strengthens the long-term platform story in a very important way.
SHT is showing signs of building something much broader than a single thermal pad product.
A graphene-based thermal management platform with:
• High-end GT-TIM products for the most demanding AI and semiconductor applications
• Recycled graphene-based TIM materials for broader markets
• EMI shielding optionality
• Strong R&D depth
• Patent protection around key manufacturing methods
• Potential margin upside from improved material utilization
That is a very different story from simply selling another component.
The bigger picture is this:
Heat management is becoming one of the most important bottlenecks in the future of computing.
AI chips, datacenters, advanced packaging, power electronics and high-performance electronics all need better ways to move heat away from increasingly dense and powerful systems.
If SHT can execute on what it is trying to build, the company could position itself right at the center of that bottleneck.
Not as a commodity supplier.
But as a deep-tech platform company with differentiated technology, strong IP and products that may help enable the next generation of high-performance electronics.
That is why I remain very bullish on this case.
Because if SHT succeeds, it will not only have built better thermal interface materials.
It may have built one of the key enabling technologies for the next phase of AI infrastructure, semiconductors and advanced electronics.