European buyers bring a specific checklist to TIM sourcing: REACH and RoHS by reflex, pressure for supply-chain decarbonisation, and a procurement culture that wants declarations before samples. This page covers sourcing graphene thermal pads from our Ningbo factory into the EU - compliance, logistics, and the engineering case.
Compliance first: what ships with the material
| Requirement | What we provide | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| REACH | Declaration + SVHC statement per current candidate list | Updated per batch family on request |
| RoHS | Declaration of conformity (10 substances) | Standard with delivery |
| Halogen-free | Material statement where specified | Confirm at RFQ |
| UL94 V-0 | Flame classification of pad material | Available on the pad grades |
| CE / LVD | Not applicable to a raw material; module-level CE remains with the integrator | We support your file with test data |
European procurement teams also increasingly ask about the production footprint. Our position is unusual and verifiable: the graphene conductive phase is produced in-house at the National Graphene Innovation Center (NGIC) in Ningbo, and conversion happens on the same site - a short, single-site supply chain that is easy to document, with no outsourced conversion steps to audit.
Logistics into the EU
- Samples: courier from Ningbo, typically under a week door-to-door, impedance report included.
- Pilot and production: air freight for urgency, or sea to Rotterdam / Hamburg (~4-5 weeks port to port). EXW or FOB Ningbo; we hand over to your forwarder cleanly.
- Customs: polymer-graphite composites are routine for EU import; commercial invoice, packing list and origin documentation provided. Duty rates for these materials are generally favourable - confirm the TARIC code with your broker.
The engineering case for European programmes
European design houses - automotive tier-1s, industrial drives, railway suppliers, wind and solar power electronics - tend to qualify materials conservatively and keep them for decades. That favours a TIM whose aged behaviour is documented:
- 180 W/m·K pad: < 0.05 °C·cm²/W at 50 psi (ASTM D5470), -40 to +200 °C, contact resistance verified stable after 1500 h at 150 °C - margin over most industrial and automotive ambients.
- 1200 W/m·K plate: solid laminate, 1.5-4 g/cm³, CTE 4-12 ppm/K tunable, machinable to 300 x 400 mm - the spreader for IGBT and SiC stacks.
- No pump-out, no silicone bleed: relevant for sealed industrial drives and anything with optics or relays in the same compartment.
Working across time zones
Ningbo sits 6-7 hours ahead of Central Europe: the overlap is your late morning through our evening. Engineering questions sent in your morning get answers the same afternoon. Documentation in English, samples die-cut to your drawing from one piece, pilot quantities from 10 pieces with batch CoAs - the same thread, run by the engineer who owns the material.