Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane

Abstract Passive thermal management in electronics has disadvantages of low efficiency and high cost. Herein, experimental and numerical studies on the geometric optimization of a hygroscopic‐membrane heat sink (HMHS) are conducted. The HMHS is based on water evaporation from a membrane‐encapsulated...

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Main Authors: Zengguang Sui, Fuxiang Li, Yunren Sui, Haosheng Lin, Wei Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-02-01
Series:Carbon Energy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.665
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author Zengguang Sui
Fuxiang Li
Yunren Sui
Haosheng Lin
Wei Wu
author_facet Zengguang Sui
Fuxiang Li
Yunren Sui
Haosheng Lin
Wei Wu
author_sort Zengguang Sui
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Passive thermal management in electronics has disadvantages of low efficiency and high cost. Herein, experimental and numerical studies on the geometric optimization of a hygroscopic‐membrane heat sink (HMHS) are conducted. The HMHS is based on water evaporation from a membrane‐encapsulated hygroscopic salt solution, in which pin fins are used for thermal conductivity enhancement. A comprehensive heat and mass transfer model is developed and validated. To obtain the HMHS configuration with the maximum cooling performance, an approach that couples the Taguchi method with numerical simulations is utilized. The contribution ratio of each design factor is determined. Experimentally validated results demonstrate that the maximum temperature reduction provided by the HMHS can be further improved from 15.5°C to 17.8°C after optimization, achieving a temperature reduction of up to 21°C at a fixed heat flux of 25 kW/m2 when compared with a similarly sized fin heat sink. Remarkably, the optimized HMHS extends the effective cooling time by ∼343% compared with traditional phase‐change materials, achieving a maximum temperature reduction ranging from 7.0°C to 20.4°C. Meanwhile, the effective heat transfer coefficient achieved is comparable with that of forced liquid cooling. Our findings suggest that the proposed cooling approach provides a new pathway for intermittent thermal management, which is expected to be used for thermal regulation of electronics, batteries, photovoltaic panels, and LED lights.
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issn 2637-9368
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spelling doaj-art-9ce91b6bba31478a9191cd28acb1a1652025-08-20T02:45:46ZengWileyCarbon Energy2637-93682025-02-0172n/an/a10.1002/cey2.665Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membraneZengguang Sui0Fuxiang Li1Yunren Sui2Haosheng Lin3Wei Wu4School of Energy and Environment City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong ChinaSchool of Energy and Environment City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong ChinaSchool of Energy and Environment City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong ChinaSchool of Energy and Environment City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong ChinaSchool of Energy and Environment City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong ChinaAbstract Passive thermal management in electronics has disadvantages of low efficiency and high cost. Herein, experimental and numerical studies on the geometric optimization of a hygroscopic‐membrane heat sink (HMHS) are conducted. The HMHS is based on water evaporation from a membrane‐encapsulated hygroscopic salt solution, in which pin fins are used for thermal conductivity enhancement. A comprehensive heat and mass transfer model is developed and validated. To obtain the HMHS configuration with the maximum cooling performance, an approach that couples the Taguchi method with numerical simulations is utilized. The contribution ratio of each design factor is determined. Experimentally validated results demonstrate that the maximum temperature reduction provided by the HMHS can be further improved from 15.5°C to 17.8°C after optimization, achieving a temperature reduction of up to 21°C at a fixed heat flux of 25 kW/m2 when compared with a similarly sized fin heat sink. Remarkably, the optimized HMHS extends the effective cooling time by ∼343% compared with traditional phase‐change materials, achieving a maximum temperature reduction ranging from 7.0°C to 20.4°C. Meanwhile, the effective heat transfer coefficient achieved is comparable with that of forced liquid cooling. Our findings suggest that the proposed cooling approach provides a new pathway for intermittent thermal management, which is expected to be used for thermal regulation of electronics, batteries, photovoltaic panels, and LED lights.https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.665electronicshygroscopic solutionmembraneoptimizationpassive thermal managementTaguchi method
spellingShingle Zengguang Sui
Fuxiang Li
Yunren Sui
Haosheng Lin
Wei Wu
Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane
Carbon Energy
electronics
hygroscopic solution
membrane
optimization
passive thermal management
Taguchi method
title Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane
title_full Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane
title_fullStr Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane
title_full_unstemmed Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane
title_short Ultra‐high‐flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating‐inspired hygroscopic membrane
title_sort ultra high flux passive cooling enabled by a sweating inspired hygroscopic membrane
topic electronics
hygroscopic solution
membrane
optimization
passive thermal management
Taguchi method
url https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.665
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AT fuxiangli ultrahighfluxpassivecoolingenabledbyasweatinginspiredhygroscopicmembrane
AT yunrensui ultrahighfluxpassivecoolingenabledbyasweatinginspiredhygroscopicmembrane
AT haoshenglin ultrahighfluxpassivecoolingenabledbyasweatinginspiredhygroscopicmembrane
AT weiwu ultrahighfluxpassivecoolingenabledbyasweatinginspiredhygroscopicmembrane