Thermal interface materials including polymeric phase-change materials

1. A method of forming a material for thermal management comprising:

forming one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids from a bio-renewable material comprising castor oil;

forming a mixture comprising one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids and one or more glycols;

polymerizing the mixture to form a diene;

polymerizing the diene to form a polymeric phase-change material; and

forming a thermal interface material that includes the polymeric phase-change material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric phase-change material is formed via an acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization reaction.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

disposing the polymeric phase-change material between a first component and a second component, the polymeric phase-change material having a first thickness value; and

applying pressure to reduce the first thickness value to a second thickness value.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first thickness value is in a range of 8 millimeters to 20 millimeters.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second thickness value is about 1 millimeters.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first component includes a semiconductor die, and wherein the second component includes a heat sink.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more glycols includes ethylene glycol.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more glycols has the formula C 2n H 4n+2 O n+1 , and wherein n is an integer of 2 or more.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more glycols includes tetraethylene glycol.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids has a chemical formula C 2 H 4 —R—C(O)OH, and wherein R includes a chain of at least 8 carbon atoms between a terminal vinyl group and a carbonyl group of the one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids.

11. A method of forming a material for thermal management comprising:

forming a mixture comprising one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids and one or more glycols;

polymerizing the mixture to form a diene;

polymerizing the diene to form a polymeric phase-change material; and

forming a thermal interface material that includes the polymeric phase-change material by (a) disposing the polymeric phase-change material between a first component and a second component, the polymeric phase-change material having a first thickness value in a range of 8 millimeters to 20 millimeters; and (b) applying pressure to reduce the first thickness value to a second thickness value.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second thickness value is about 1 millimeters.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first component includes a semiconductor die, and wherein the second component includes a heat sink.

14. A method of forming a material for thermal management comprising:

forming a mixture comprising one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids and one or more glycols selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol and tetraethylene glycol;

polymerizing the mixture to form a diene;

polymerizing the diene to form a polymeric phase-change material; and

forming a thermal interface material that includes the polymeric phase-change material by (a) disposing the polymeric phase-change material between a first component and a second component, the polymeric phase-change material having a first thickness value in a range of 8 millimeters to 20 millimeters; and (b) applying pressure to reduce the first thickness value to a second thickness value.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids is formed from a bio-renewable material.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids has a chemical formula C 2 H 4 —R—C(O)OH, and wherein R includes a chain of at least 8 carbon atoms between a terminal vinyl group and a carbonyl group of the one or more vinyl-terminated fatty acids.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first component includes a semiconductor die, and wherein the second component includes a heat sink.