Just this week Elektron Ventures released a new porous copper material that in liquid cooling devices is reported to be three to ten times more effective at transferring heat into a passing coolant than a microchannel water block of similar size.
We’ve covered microchannel technology before here on ATS’s blog since it’s such an important technology for use in liquid cooling at the semiconductor level. In fact you can read many of those back posts and resources on microchannel technology, research and application at this link here: ATS Blog Microchannel Roundup. But let’s get back to Elektron’s porous copper.
Known as AdvarienCU, the open cell copper foam allows significant controllable porosity from 50 – 85%, resulting in a vast specific surface area, making AdvarienCu an extremely effective material for exchanging heat into a passing cooling fluid. AdvarienCu’s open cell porous structure allows coolant fluid to carry heat away to a radiator more effectively than expensive micro-machined structures and removes the need to install a bulky fan.
Tests by a leading academic research group found AdvarienCu-based liquid cooling devices to be three to ten times more effective at transferring heat into a passing coolant than a microchannel water block of similar size.
That’s quite a bump up in performance and certainly worth at least exploring for any upcoming microchannel applications your team may have in your next thermal management project.
You can learn more about Advarien here at their site: AdvarienCU