| Posted: Apr 09, 2012 | |
Faster, cheaper way to cool electronic devices with copper-graphene nanocomposite |
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| (Nanowerk News) A North Carolina State University researcher has developed a more efficient, less expensive way of cooling electronic devices – particularly devices that generate a lot of heat, such as lasers and power devices (see paper in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B:"Thermal Conductivity of Copper-Graphene Composite Films Synthesized by Electrochemical Deposition with Exfoliated Graphene Platelets"). | |
| The technique uses a "heat spreader" made of a copper-graphene composite, which is attached to the electronic device using an indium-graphene interface film "Both the copper-graphene and indium-graphene have higher thermal conductivity, allowing the device to cool efficiently," says Dr. Jag Kasichainula, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and author of a paper on the research. Thermal conductivity is the rate at which a material conducts heat. | |
| In fact, Kasichainula found that the copper-graphene film's thermal conductivity allows it to cool approximately 25 percent faster than pure copper, which is what most devices currently use. | |
| Dissipating heat from electronic devices is important, because the devices become unreliable when they become too hot. | |
| The paper also lays out the manufacturing process for creating the copper-graphene composite, using an electrochemical deposition process. "The copper-graphene composite is also low-cost and easy to produce," Kasichainula says. "Copper is expensive, so replacing some of the copper with graphene actually lowers the overall cost." | |
| Source: North Carolina State University |
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