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Online proceedings - EDA Publishing Association

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7-9 October 2009, Leuven, Belgium<br />

Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Thermally Conductive<br />

Phase Change Material For Heat Dissipation<br />

Xinhe Tang, Ernst Hammel and Werner Reiter<br />

Electrovac AG<br />

Aufeldgasse 37-39<br />

3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria<br />

Tel: 0043-2243-450405, Fax: 0043-2243-450315, tan@electrovac.com , www.electrovac.com<br />

ABSTRACT<br />

Carbon nanotube enhanced thermally conductive phase<br />

change material for heat dissipation has been studied in the<br />

present paper. It was indicated that the thermal resistance was<br />

greatly reduced by incorporating multi-walled carbon<br />

nanotubes into the organic matrix. The uniform distribution of<br />

carbon nanotubes has been realized by optimizing the<br />

dispersion parameters like temperature, shear strength, rolling<br />

speed and gap of rollers. New phase change materials have<br />

been developed and the thermal performance has been<br />

evaluated. The further work relating to physical and<br />

mechanical properties and application in heat dissipation is<br />

being undertaken.<br />

Key words: carbon nanotubes, nanofiller enhanced phase<br />

change material, thermal performance, thermal resistance<br />

I. INTRODUCTION<br />

An organic phase change material (PCM) shows thermal<br />

storage capacity due to its latent heat of transformation, but its<br />

application in thermal management is limited owing to its low<br />

thermal conductivity. It is expected that embedding a thermally<br />

conductive nanofiller in the PCM matrix can either increase the<br />

thermal conductivity of the composite or decrease the thermal<br />

resistance, and therefore reduce the junction temperature of the<br />

components.<br />

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess high thermal conductivity<br />

in the axis direction. An individual multi-walled carbon<br />

nanotube (MWCNT) can be as high as 3000 W/mK in thermal<br />

conductivity [1]. The CNTs with their outstanding conductivity<br />

have a great potential to be employed in PCM for heat<br />

dissipation. It is believed that the high inherent thermal<br />

conductivity of CNTs significantly enhances the thermal<br />

conductivity of the PCM. It was indicated that the thermal<br />

grease made from carbon nanofibers (CNF) showed low<br />

thermal resistance in the previous work [2-3]. It has been<br />

reported that CNT arrays lead to a minimum thermal<br />

resistance of 19.8 Kmm 2 /W, while the combination of the CNT<br />

arrays with phase change material results in much lower<br />

resistance of 5.2 Kmm 2 /W [4]. The dispersion and the<br />

formation of a network of CNTs in the matrix, the loading<br />

grade of the fillers, the manufacture process and even the<br />

properties of the matrix itself exert an important influence on<br />

the thermal performance of the PCM.<br />

The objective of this work is to develop nanofiller enhanced<br />

phase change material by finding out desirable compositions<br />

where CNTs and matrix may well be incorporated, and by<br />

optimizing dispersing parameters to generate minimum thermal<br />

barriers between nanofillers and matrix and to realize a<br />

maximum thermal conductivity of the phase change material.<br />

In the present work following activities have been involved in<br />

developing CNTs enhanced PCM:<br />

• Selection of PCM matrices and filler materials;<br />

• Pre-treatment of carbon nanotubes;<br />

• Optimization of dispersion parameters;<br />

• Optimization of loading grade of CNTs;<br />

• Evaluation of CNTs distribution in PCM;<br />

• Measurment of the thermal resistance of the PCM;<br />

• Comparison of the enhancement over the matrix;<br />

II. EXPERIMENTAL<br />

1. Selection of carbon nanofibers as filler<br />

It has been reported that the thermal grease made from heattreated<br />

carbon nanofibers showed lower thermal resistance than<br />

any other non-treated CNF and CNT[2]. A multi-walled carbon<br />

nanotube was treated at high temperature and used as the filler<br />

to enhance the thermal performance. Fig. 1 shows the SEM<br />

morphology of this filler material. As many nanoparticles, the<br />

carbon nanotubes are also strongly agglomerated, which shows<br />

the difficulty to be well dispersed into the organic matrix.<br />

Fig. 1: SEM morphology of multi-walled carbon nanotube<br />

2. Selection of organic phase change material<br />

The following properties have been taken into account to<br />

select organic PCM:<br />

©<strong>EDA</strong> <strong>Publishing</strong>/THERMINIC 2009 216<br />

ISBN: 978-2-35500-010-2

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