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Vol. 15 (2023)

Flexible, Highly Thermally Conductive and Electrically Insulating Phase Change Materials for Advanced Thermal Management of 5G Base Stations and Thermoelectric Generators

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-01003-3
Ying Lin
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
Qi Kang
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
Yijie Liu
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
Yingke Zhu
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
Pingkai Jiang
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
Yiu‑Wing Mai
Centre for Advanced Materials Technology (CAMT), School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering J07, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Xingyi Huang
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Xingyi Huang

xyhuang@sjtu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 15 (2023), Article Number: 31

Abstract

Thermal management has become a crucial problem for high-power-density equipment and devices. Phase change materials (PCMs) have great prospects in thermal management applications because of their large capacity of heat storage and isothermal behavior during phase transition. However, low intrinsic thermal conductivity, ease of leakage, and lack of flexibility severely limit their applications. Solving one of these problems often comes at the expense of other performance of the PCMs. In this work, we report core–sheath structured phase change nanocomposites (PCNs) with an aligned and interconnected boron nitride nanosheet network by combining coaxial electrospinning, electrostatic spraying, and hot-pressing. The advanced PCN films exhibit an ultrahigh thermal conductivity of 28.3 W m−1 K−1 at a low BNNS loading (i.e., 32 wt%), which thereby endows the PCNs with high enthalpy (> 101 J g−1), outstanding ductility (> 40%) and improved fire retardancy. Therefore, our core–sheath strategies successfully balance the trade-off between thermal conductivity, flexibility, and phase change enthalpy of PCMs. Further, the PCNs provide powerful cooling solutions on 5G base station chips and thermoelectric generators, displaying promising thermal management applications on high-power-density equipment and thermoelectric conversion devices.


Highlights:


1 A core–sheath structured phase change nanocomposite (PCN) with aligned and overlapping interconnected BNNS networks were successfully fabricated.
2 The PCN has an ultrahigh in-plane thermal conductivity (28.3 W m−1 K−1), excellent flexibility and high phase change enthalpy (101 J g−1).
3 The PCN exhibits intensively potential applications in the thermal management of 5G base stations and thermoelectric generators.

Keywords

Coaxial electrospinning Boron nitride nanosheets Phase change nanocomposites Thermal conductivity Thermal management
Lin, Ying, Qi Kang, Yijie Liu, Yingke Zhu, Pingkai Jiang, Yiu‑Wing Mai, and Xingyi Huang. 2023. “Flexible, Highly Thermally Conductive and Electrically Insulating Phase Change Materials for Advanced Thermal Management of 5G Base Stations and Thermoelectric Generators”. Nano-Micro Letters 15 (January):31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-01003-3.
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