Industry Spotlight: Innovations in Liquid Thermal Interface Materials for High-Heat Applications

Home » Industry Spotlight: Innovations in Liquid Thermal Interface Materials for High-Heat Applications

Innovations in Liquid Thermal Interface Materials for High-Heat Applications – Liquid thermal interface materials (also known as thermal interface materials or thermal conductivity materials) are of importance and have a wide range of uses in modern industry and technology. These materials play a vital role in many high thermal applications as they help to effectively manage and conduct heat, thereby maintaining the stability and performance of equipment and systems. This paper will look at the importance of introducing liquid thermal interface materials and the needs and challenges of high thermal applications in various industries.

Liquid thermal interface materials

There are some obvious differences between liquid thermal interface materials and common solid thermal interface materials in terms of nature, application and performance.Liquid thermal interface material form is generally a liquid state, usually liquid metal, silicone oil, phase change materials, etc., because of its high mobility and thermal conductivity characteristics, can be coated or filled in the surface of each object in the tiny gap. It plays an important role in the field of thermal management, especially in applications such as heaters, electronic equipment cooling and heat exchangers.
Its main role includes:

Fill the gap: due to the radiator in the processing device due to errors, non-uniformity and other reasons, resulting in gaps between the contact surfaces, the liquid thermal interface materials due to its fluidity characteristics can be very good to fill these gaps, to ensure that the heat can be very good transfer to reduce the heat conduction obstruction.
Reduce the interface thermal resistance: compared with solid thermal interface materials, liquid thermal interface materials can effectively reduce the interface thermal resistance, because of its fluidity characteristics can better fill the smile gap in various places to provide a better heat transfer path.
Adaptability: liquid thermal interface materials can adapt to different shapes, sizes and curved objects. In the actual application can have a wider range of applications.
High stability: liquid thermal interface materials generally have better long-term stability, compared with solid thermal interface materials are not easy to aging or hardening, so as to maintain a longer working condition.

Liquid thermal interface material innovation trends

1. High thermal conductivity of liquid interface materials: With the application of heat dissipation demand is more and more exuberant, R & D personnel are also looking for higher thermal conductivity of materials to deal with high-power electronic equipment cooling problems, there are liquid metal alloys and thermal conductivity of the liquid is being developed, in the follow-up can be expected to replace the traditional thermal interface materials.
2. Nanotechnology: Researchers have found that adding nanoparticles to liquid thermal interface materials can provide better heat transfer efficiency.
3. Reversible phase change materials: sustainable development of liquid thermal interface materials by more and more manufacturers of interest, so the focus of researchers is also the development of reversible phase change materials, in order to achieve efficient thermal management at the same time, reduce the need for new materials, especially in the field of solar collectors, its potential applications are very good for professionals.
4. Customisation: With the diversification of flexible electronics and electronic devices, liquid thermal interface materials need to be customised and flexible to adapt to various application scenarios.
5. Biomimetic: Researchers get inspiration from biological interface to develop and apply more efficient liquid thermal interface materials, for example, there have been researchers to study the texture structure of the shark skin will be applied in the material design, greatly improving the efficiency of heat dissipation.

Key characteristics of liquid thermal interface materials

Liquid thermal interface materials have a wide range of roles in the field of high heat applications, and their role in the transfer of heat, maintaining the temperature of the equipment plays a very critical role, the next discussion is the thermal interface materials have some key characteristics.

Thermal conductivity: The thermal conductivity of a material is an important characteristic of thermal interface materials. Materials with high thermal conductivity can transfer heat more efficiently and improve thermal management capabilities.
Stability: It is a fundamental characteristic of thermal interface materials to remain stable in harsh working environments such as long term high temperature, corrosion, etc., and not to volatilise, decompose or oxidise irreversible changes.
Electrical insulation: Since thermal interface materials are often used in conjunction with electronic components, preventing current leakage or short-circuit is a basic requirement for thermal interface materials.
Interfacial applicability: the material needs to adapt to different contact surface shapes and structures, to ensure that it can be closely adhered to the heat sink or electronic components, to minimise the interfacial thermal resistance, and thus improve the efficiency of heat transfer.
Matching coefficient of thermal expansion: When the material is placed in different temperatures, the coefficient of thermal expansion should be matched with the expansion coefficient of the neighbouring materials, so as to avoid damage caused by thermal stress.

Advantages and Challenges

Liquid thermal interface materials have unique advantages over traditional thermal interface materials in many ways, some of the benefits associated with liquid thermal interface materials are shown next:

High Thermal Conductivity: Liquid thermal interface materials typically have a higher thermal conductivity than traditional thermal interface materials, which facilitates a more efficient transfer of heat between the heat source and the heat sink.
Adaptability: Can be applied to irregular surfaces of different shapes and sizes, ensuring maximum contact area.
Low stress: Liquid thermal interface materials do not induce high mechanical stress during the filling process.
Although there are many advantages of liquid thermal interface material applications, there are also some disadvantages and limitations:
Cost: Liquid thermal interface materials are relatively expensive, especially for high performance and specialised applications.
Difficulty of maintenance:Liquid thermal interface materials require regular maintenance to ensure performance, which can increase equipment costs and complexity.

Liquid thermal interface material environmental characteristics and sustainability

With the growing environmental impact of liquid thermal interface materials, material scientists, manufacturers are also considering innovative ways to develop and produce liquid thermal interface materials, environmental issues on the liquid interface material selection, production processes, recycling and reuse rates have had a significant impact.

Manufacturers are currently working in these areas to achieve environmentally friendly development of liquid thermal interface materials, firstly by adopting environmentally friendly synthesis and preparation methods, avoiding the use of toxic solvents and chemicals in the production process and reducing pollution. Secondly, the materials are based on renewable resources, such as biomass and renewable energy, to reduce dependence on scarce resources; the degradability of the materials is equally important, so that they can decompose in the natural environment at the end of their use. Lastly, innovative material design to improve the performance and sustainability of liquid thermal interface materials, which will lead to a reduction in environmental impact.

Prospects for liquid thermal interface materials

According to industry insiders, liquid thermal interface materials will evolve towards high performance, versatility, sustainability and application expansion to meet the growing demand for thermal management.

Liquid thermal interface materials will place more emphasis on thermal conductivity, which will be achieved by optimising the structure of the material, its components or by the addition of technological nanoparticles.

Thermal interface materials need to be multifunctional, such as electrical conductivity, mechanical flexibility and other related functions, in order to cope with the growing demand for multiple scenarios

As national policies on environmental protection become more stringent, manufacturers and consumers pay more attention to green products, liquid thermal interface materials also need to pay more attention to environmental protection and sustainable properties.

The future development of liquid thermal interface materials also includes the expansion of other applications, giving full play to the versatility of liquid thermal interface materials to respond to the needs of other scenarios.

At the same time, liquid thermal interface materials have also appeared some related new technologies, such as nanofluid thermal interface materials, phase change materials, liquid thermal interface, electric field control liquid thermal interface and stretchable liquid thermal interface materials, in order to improve the thermal interface materials and thermal management and other related performance.