A bottom-up approach to generate isotropic liquid metal network in polymer-enabled 3D thermal management

Chen, Shen; Xing, Wenkui; Wang, Han; Cheng, Weizheng; Lei, Zhihui; Zheng, Feiyu; Tao, Peng; Shang, Wen; Fu, Benwei; Song, Chengyi; Dickey, Michael D.; Deng, Tao

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2022.135674

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Some recent studies have reported several materials by introducing liquid metal and rigid fillers into a polymer. − However, the preparation method included first mixing liquid metal with metal powder. Liquid metal gallium can corrode with most of the metals, like copper, aluminum, and iron.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Interface Materials with High Thermal Conductivity and Low Young’s Modulus Using a Solid–Liquid Metal Codoping Strategy

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Thermal interface materials (TIMs), as typical thermal functional materials, are highly required to possess both high thermal conductivity and low Young's modulus. However, the naturally synchronized change in the thermal and mechanical properties seriously hinders the development of high-performance TIMs. To tackle such a dilemma, a strategy of codoping solid fillers and liquid metal fillers into polymer substrates is proposed in this study. This strategy includes a large amount of liquid metals that play the role of thermal paths and a small amount of uniformly dispersed solid fillers that further enhance heat conduction. Through the synergistic effect of the liquid metal and solid fillers, the thermal conductivity can be improved, and Young's modulus can be kept small simultaneously. A typical TIM with a volume of 55% gallium-based liquid metal and 15% copper particles as fillers has a thermal conductivity of 3.94 W/(m•K) and a Young's modulus of 699 kPa, which had the maximum thermomechanical performance coefficient compared with liquid metal TIMs and solid filler-doped TIMs. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the solid−liquid metal codoped TIM increased sharply with an increase of liquid metal content, and Young's modulus increased rapidly with an increase of the volume ratio of copper and polymer. The high−low-temperature cycling test and large-size light-emitting diode (LED) application demonstrated that this TIM had stable physical performance. The synergistic effect of the solid fillers and liquid metal fillers provides a broad space to solve the classic tradeoff issue of the mechanical and thermal properties of composites.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Interface Materials with High Thermal Conductivity and Low Young’s Modulus Using a Solid–Liquid Metal Codoping Strategy

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…Figure a illustrates the fitting of the measured k c values using the Agari model, which has been widely used to analyze the k of filler–matrix composites . The model is defined as in eq log nobreak0em.25em⁡ k normalc = ϕ normalf C 2 0.25em log nobreak0em.25em⁡ 0.25em k normalf + ϕ normalm 0.25em log ( C 1 k m ) where C 1 and C 2 are the semiempirical parameters possibly describing the effect of the added fillers on the matrix crystallinity or crystal size and the ease of forming continuous filler chains, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Latent Heat Storage Systems Based on Liquid Metal Matrices with Suspended Phase Change Material Microparticles

Kang

Kim

Song

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Phase change materials (PCMs) are considered useful tools for efficient thermal management and thermal energy utilization in various application fields. In this study, a colloidal PCM-in-liquid metal (LM) system is demonstrated as a novel platform composite with excellent latent heat storage capability, high thermal and electrical conductivities, and unique viscoelastic properties. In the proposed formulation, eutectic Ga−In is utilized as a high-thermal-conductivity and high-fluidity liquid matrix in which paraffinic PCM microparticles with various solid−liquid phase transition temperatures are suspended as fillers. Good compatibility between the fillers and matrix is achieved by the nanosized inorganic oxides (titania) adsorbed at the filler−matrix interface; thus, the composite is produced via simple vortex mixing without tedious pre-or post-processing. The composite shows unique trade-off effects among various properties, i.e., elastic modulus, yield stress, density, thermal conductivity, and melting or crystallization enthalpy, which can be easily controlled by varying the contents of the suspended fillers. A Joule heating device incorporating the composite exhibits improved electrothermal performance owing to the synergy between the high electrical conductivity and latent heat storage capability of the composite. The proposed platform may be exploited for the rational design and facile manufacture of high-performance form-factor-free latent heat storage systems for various potential applications such as battery thermal management and flexible heaters.

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“…Recently, liquid metals (LMs), particularly Ga and Ga-based alloys, have received considerable attention in the development of high- k composites for thermal management applications, − based on their integrated advantages of high conductivity, high fluidity, and low toxicity . In the manufacturing of polymer-based composites, LMs can be easily dispersed as micro- or nanosized entities using various physical methods such as shear mixing ,− or sonication, and “emulsified” into a continuous prepolymer liquid that can be subsequently cured to form a polymeric matrix. Besides the high k values (e.g., ∼26.4 W/m·K for eutectic Ga–In or EGaIn), the high deformability of such metals, as being in the liquid state at room temperature, is considered a unique and important property in the fabrication of stretchable elastomers, and potentially future form-factor-free composite materials .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Thermal-Conductivity and High-Fluidity Heat Transfer Emulsion with 89 wt % Suspended Liquid Metal Microdroplets

2023

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Colloidal suspensions of thermally conductive particles in a carrier fluid are considered promising heat transfer fluids for various thermal energy transfer applications, such as transportation, plants, electronics, and renewable energy systems. The thermal conductivity (k) of the particle-suspended fluids can be improved substantially by increasing the concentration of conductive particles above a “thermal percolation threshold,” which is limited because of the vitrification of the resulting fluid at the high particle loadings. In this study, eutectic Ga–In liquid metal (LM) was employed as a soft high-k filler dispersed as microdroplets at high loadings in paraffin oil (as a carrier fluid) to produce an emulsion-type heat transfer fluid with the combined advantages of high thermal conductivity and high fluidity. Two types of the LM-in-oil emulsions, which were produced via the probe-sonication and rotor–stator homogenization (RSH) methods, demonstrated significant improvements in k, i.e., Δk ∼409 and ∼261%, respectively, at the maximum investigated LM loading of 50 vol % (∼89 wt %), attributed to the enhanced heat transport via high-k LM fillers above the percolation threshold. Despite the high filler loading, the RSH-produced emulsion retained remarkably high fluidity, with a relatively low viscosity increase and no yield stress, demonstrating its potential as a circulatable heat transfer fluid.

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A bottom-up approach to generate isotropic liquid metal network in polymer-enabled 3D thermal management

Cited by 32 publications

References 51 publications

Thermal Interface Materials with High Thermal Conductivity and Low Young’s Modulus Using a Solid–Liquid Metal Codoping Strategy

Thermal Interface Materials with High Thermal Conductivity and Low Young’s Modulus Using a Solid–Liquid Metal Codoping Strategy

Novel Latent Heat Storage Systems Based on Liquid Metal Matrices with Suspended Phase Change Material Microparticles

High-Thermal-Conductivity and High-Fluidity Heat Transfer Emulsion with 89 wt % Suspended Liquid Metal Microdroplets

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