Cooling liquid containing graphene and carbon nanotubes

25/06/2021

“Process for making cooling liquid containing graphene and carbon nanotube components” by Bui Hung Thang and associates has been granted Patent No. 27931 by the National Office of Intellectual Property under Decision 3695w /QD-SHTT dated March 5, 2021. The present invention relates to a process for making a heat-conducting liquid with a high coefficient of thermal conductivity composed of graphene and carbon nanotubes, for the purpose of replacing conventional radiator fluids. A blend of graphene and carbon nanotubes with a high coefficient of thermal conductivity increases the thermal conductivity of the radiator fluid and improves the efficiency of electronic components and high-power devices.

Presently, the development of microelectronic and nanoelectronic technology allows electronic and optoelectronic components to increase dramatically in terms of component density, capacity and operating speed. However, electronic devices, especially high-power electronic components, when operated for a long enough time, will consume energy and release large amounts of heat. Improving the efficiency of heat dissipation will help prolong the life, increase efficiency, capacity and operating speed of electronic components.

New cooling technologies such as using liquid are receiving great attention from researchers and manufacturers due to great benefits in terms of cost and high heat transfer efficiency. At the Institute of Materials Science, the team of Dr. Bui Hung Thang has succeeded in coming up with a method to make a cooling liquid containing both graphene and carbon nanotubes at the same time, in order to optimize heat dissipation.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene (Gr) materials are known to have superior mechanical properties, especially they have great thermal conductivity (kCNTs ~ 2,000 W/mK, kGr ~ 5,000 W/mK); opening up application possibilities in the field of heat dissipation for large power electronic components and devices.

On the other hand, graphene is known for its film-like structure, so it conducts heat well in the plane, while carbon nanotubes have a tubular structure, so it conducts heat well along the tube. The combination of the two materials graphene and carbon nanotubes will help improve the number of heat transfer dimensions and form a more efficient heat transfer and exchange network in the liquid.

The cooling liquid has been tested for a number of high-power electronic devices such as 150W LED street light modules and 500W LED headlights. The test results show that the cooling liquid helps to reduce the temperature of the LED chip components from 3.5oC - 4.5oC, the calculation combined with the test evaluation shows that the efficiency of the cooling liquid contributes to improved durability and prolongs the life of the LEDs by 30-40%.