Thermally-conductive electrically-insulating polymer-base material

An adhesive material contacting a heat-generating electronic device, the adhesive material comprising:

• about 50 to about 80 weight percent of metal particles having a melting temperature above a maximum operating temperature of the heat-generating electronic device;
• a dielectric polymer coating individually encapsulating each of the metal particles so as to electrically insulate the metal particles from each other, the polymer coating having a softening temperature of at least the maximum operating temperature of the heat-generating electronic device but below the melting temperature of the metal particles;
• about 0.5 to about 10 weight percent of dielectric particles;
• and
• the balance essentially a polymeric gel in which the metal particles and the dielectric particles are dispersed, the dielectric particles having a higher coefficient of thermal conductivity than the gel.