One of the biggest problems that most electronic devices have today is that they can often overheat. In general, all these devices use fans to allow air to circulate inside and thus lower the temperature. There are even computers that in addition to using these also use liquid cooling. However, it seems that a new model of thermal switch could help to eliminate this problem. It is made of graphene foam and can withstand heat when it is cold or cause heat to go away when it is too hot.
High temperatures are a great enemy of batteries and electronics in general. What he recommended is that the temperatures in these devices range between 0 and 45 degrees. If this temperature is exceeded, this can cause battery wear.
One more use for graphene
Preventing the generation of heat is a complicated task because the battery components themselves generate a lot of temperature.
The fact that today increasingly powerful and smaller devices are manufactured makes heat management in these devices an increasingly important task.
The systems used today to control temperature are conduction and convection, but these types of systems cannot be monitored or assisted in cold situations.
To end these, researchers at Purdue University have used graphene to solve the problem. They used graphene foam, which is a great insulating material because of the air pockets inside.
All tests were an absolute success
Several tests were done to check the performance of the material. The graphene foam was placed between a heater and a heat sink to then measure the temperature and heat flow when the foam was compressed or relaxed.
It started out with a thickness of 1.2mm acting as an insulator, but when it was tightened to 0.2mm its thermal conductive power increased eightfold. Therefore, the amount of heat it lets through varies.
Another experiment was also carried out in which a real-life environment was simulated (with temperatures between 0 and 30 degrees) and the graphene foam was placed on a heat source that simulated an electronic device.
The results were a resounding success , since the temperature was stabilized in the different ranges of ambient temperatures.
The researchers believe that this new temperature control system is ideal for devices such as Smartphones , although it could also be applied to electric cars, since their batteries can suffer from high temperatures.