Review of thermal management of electronics and phase change materials

Abstract

Effective thermal management systems (TMS) are crucial for the optimal operation of electronic devices in computing, data centers, and transportation. This review begins by highlighting the essential role that TMS plays in today's electronics, where performance, reliability, and energy efficiency are of utmost importance. TMS strategies are vital for addressing the escalating thermal challenges associated with the ever-increasing computational demands of modern electronics. This study focuses on pivotal applications: mobile phones, laptops, data centers, electric vehicles and aircraft. Given the fast evolution of microelectronics technologies, research in electronics tends to improve compacity, significantly impacting their thermal behavior, a fact that has garnered scant attention. Device failures mainly occur when recommended temperature thresholds are exceeded. Current cooling solutions used to tackle this overheating consist of heat pipes and/or thermal drains (in most efficient cases, liquid-gas phase changes are involved), comprising assisted by noisy and energy consuming fans. Although this problem has been studied extensively for decades, no satisfactory solution has been found, and electronic component thermal management continues to be a major challenge. This work is an original contribution, and concludes that the development of innovative TMS based on hybrid materials (a metallic matrix with an optimized topology and whose microporosity is impregnated with phase change materials) could pave the way for a brand new generation of ambitious microelectronics technologies. The maximum tolerable temperature thresholds constitute the critical criteria for the targeted applications. The review makes PCM selections based on criteria such as latent heat, absence of undercooling, compatibility with metals.