Coating helps electronics stay cool by sweating

摘要

Mammals sweat to regulate body temperature, and researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) are exploring whether our phones coulld do the same. In a study published in Joule (https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.joule.2019.12.005), the authors present a coating for electronics that releases water vapour to dissipate heat from operating devices - a method that could prevent electronics from overheating and keep them cooler than existing strategies. 'The development of microelectronics puts great demands on efficient thermal management techniques, because all the components are tightly packed and chips can get really hot,' said senior author Ruzhu Wang. 'For example, without an effective cooling system, our phones could have a system breakdown and burn our hands if we run them for a long time or load a big application.'