New Composites Claim Major Cooling Advance

Advances in polymer composite and processing technologies are said to permit passive cooling devices to be created that have a thermal conductivity far greater than was previously available using composites. Cool Poly is said to more than double the thermal conductivity of polymer composites currently on the market, with the new materials reportedly registering conductivity specs as high as 100W/m-°K ±10%, thereby challenging aluminum in many cooling assignments.Other benefits claimed for the new composites include: lower manufacturing costs; ability to be molded in complex geometries; and light weight- they are over 1/3 lighter than aluminum. The composites consist of a polymer, such as a liquid crystal polymer (LCP), and fine metallic particles, as well as other materials. They are presently being used to make heat spreaders, with heatsink and thermal interface products expected to follow shortly.