Significant heat
generation in modern high-speed electronic devices
requires elevated thermal conductivity of electrically conductive
adhesives (ECAs), but the gap between discrete filler materials significantly
interrupts the pathway of heat transport. In this work, we demonstrated
the 587% enhancement of thermal conductivity by adding a silver–organic
complex (i.e., silver 2-ethylhexanoate) in an epoxy-based ECA with
the optimal value of 4.7 W/mK at a low curing temperature of 180 °C.
After the postannealing at 200 °C, the thermal conductivity can
be further enhanced to 6.2 W/mK with high stability. In the presence
of the silver–organic complex, the optimal die shear strength
can be increased to 179% (38.06 MPa) compared to that of the blank
samples. The silver–organic complex is capable of molecule-scale
blending and forming ultrafine Ag particles (13–47 nm) well-distributed
in the epoxy matrix, enabling gap-filling and bulky network sintering
to achieve thermal conductivity enhancement.