Enhancement of Natural Convection by Carbon Nanotube Films Covered Microchannel-Surface for Passive Electronic Cooling Devices.

Abstract

Owing to the outstanding properties of thermal conduction, lightweight, and chemical durability, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have revealed promising applications in thermal management materials. Meanwhile, the increasingly popular portable electronics and the rapid development of space technology need lighter weight, smaller size, and more effective thermal management devices. Here, a novel kind of heat dissipation devices based on the superaligned CNT films and underlying microchannels is proposed, and the heat dissipation properties are measured at the natural condition. Distinctive from previous studies, by combining the advantages of microchannels and CNTs, such a novel heat dissipation device enables superior natural convection heat transfer properties. Our findings prove that the novel CNT-based devices could show an 86.6% larger total natural heat dissipation properties than bare copper plate. Further calculations of the radiation and natural convection heat transfer properties demonstrate that the excellent passive cooling properties of these CNT-based devices are primarily caused by the reinforcement of the natural convection heat transfer properties. Furthermore, the heat dissipation mechanisms are briefly discussed, and we propose that the very high heat transfer coefficients and the porous structures of superaligned CNT films play critical roles in reinforcing the natural convection. The novel CNT-based heat dissipation devices also have advantages of energy-saving, free-noise, and without additional accessories. So we believe that the CNT-based heat dissipation devices would replace the traditional metal-finned heat dissipation devices and have promising applications in electronic devices, such as photovoltaic devices, portable electronic devices, and electronic displays.