[Improved] Graphene Used to Make Efficient Cooling for Electronics

viralglobalnews.com ^ | July 11, 2015

[BenLurkin]

A few years ago, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology demonstrated that graphene could be used to cool silicon-based electronics.

“But the methods that have been in place so far have presented the researchers with problems,” explained professor Johan Liu of Chalmers University of Tech. “It has become evident that those methods cannot be used to rid electronic devices off great amounts of heat [sic], because they have consisted only of a few layers of thermal conductive atoms.”

According to Liu and colleagues, adding additional layers of graphene to the surface leads to less adhesion. The researchers have overcome this problem by using strong covalent bonds – as opposed to weak van der Waals bonds – to improve the adhesiveness between the graphene film and the surface of the silicon-based device.

Using (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) molecules, the researchers modified the graphene to create a series of “silane bonds” between the graphene and silicon, thereby doubling graphene’s thermal conductivity capacity.

[BenLurkin]

Image credit: Johan Liu, Chalmers University

[MUDDOG]

using strong covalent bonds – as opposed to weak van der Waals bonds

Covalence to reduce the liberty of the graphene.

[USMCPOP]

So they seem to have have a method of having heat move between and through layers as well as within a layer. Wow.