Liquid metal

About: Liquid metal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6947 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77785 citations. The topic is also known as: liquid alloy & liquid metal alloy.

An Integrated Liquid Metal Thermal Switch for Active Thermal Management of Electronics

Abstract: Heat dissipation is a key obstacle to achieving reliable, high-power-density electronic systems. Thermal devices capable of actively managing heat transfer are desired to enable heat dissipation optimization and enhanced reliability through device isothermalization. Here, we develop a millimeter-scale liquid metal droplet thermal switch capable of controlling heat transfer spatially and temporally. We demonstrate the thermal switch by integrating it with gallium nitride (GaN) devices mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) and measure heat transfer and temperature of each device for a variety of switch positions and heat dissipation levels. When integrated with a single GaN device (2.6 mm $\times4.6$ mm face area) dissipating 1.8 W, the thermal switch shows the ability to actively control heat transfer by conducting 1.3 W in the ON mode with the GaN device at 51 °C ± 1 °C, and 0.5 W in the OFF mode with the GaN device at 95 °C ± 1 °C. To elucidate the heat transfer physics, we developed a 1-D system thermal resistance model in conjunction with an independent 3-D finite-element method (FEM) simulation, showing excellent agreement with our experimental data. Finally, we demonstrated that when the switch is integrated with two GaN devices, the switch can balance the device heat transfer rate and enhance junction temperature uniformity and system reliability by lowering the device-to-device temperature difference from > 10 °C (no switch) to 0 °C.

Composite phase-change thermal storage material

Abstract: The invention provides a composite phase-change thermal storage material A porous material with high thermal conductivity is used as a supporting framework, and low-melting-point metal or low-melting-point metal with nano-particles is distributed in pores of the porous material, wherein melting point or solidus temperature of the low-melting-point metal is less than or equal to 80 DEG C; and thermal conductivity of the porous material is within 40-400 W/(mK) The material provided by the invention has high equivalent thermal conductivity and high storage energy density; there is a large contact area between the liquid metal and the porous material; and the material has a wide application temperature range, has good fixability, stable physico-chemical property and good reversibility; and the problem of decreasing heat storage efficiency after multiple times of heat adsorption and release cycles is avoided

Soft metal constructs for large strain sensor membrane

Abstract: Thin gold films on silicone display large reversible change in electrical resistance upon stretching. Eutectic liquid metal conductors maintain bulk metal conductivity, even upon extensive elongation. When integrated together, the soft metals enable multidirectional, large strain sensor skin. Their fabrication process combines thermal evaporation of thin gold film patterns through stencil mask with microplotting of eutectic gallium indium microwires, and packaging in silicone rubber. Using three-element rectangular rosettes, we demonstrate a sensor skin that can reliably and locally quantify the plane strain vector in surfaces subject to stretch (up to 50% strain) and indentation. This hybrid technology will find applications in soft robotics, prosthetics and wearable health monitoring systems.