Cooler computers, smartphones using graphene

This type of bonding is capable of doubling the thermal conductivity of the graphene, which could lead to a variety of new applications.

Disposal of of excess heat in an efficient manner is indispensable for prolonging electronics lifespan, and also could lead to a significant lowering of energy usage. The graphene film could be incorporated in smaller, less energy consuming and faster electronics.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, have developed a graphene-based film that effectively and efficiently cools electronic systems. Almost 50 percent of the energy required in computer systems is used for cooling purposes.

A graphene-based film is attachable to electronic components made of silicon and has a thermal conductivity capacity that is four times that of copper.

Graphene continues to be a popular point of study for researchers. Their biggest hurdle to realizing this idea was that they didn’t know how to attach the graphene to a device that needed to be cooled.

“But the methods that have been in place so far have presented the researchers with problems”, Liu notes. However, the more layers scientists added, the harder it became for the band to adhere to silicon components.

Liu and his team experimented with several different materials and found that treating graphene with triethoxysilane molecules and a heating hydrolysis was the best way to create sticky silane bonds between electronics and graphene film. “One instance is the mixing of graphene-based mostly movie into microelectronic units and methods, corresponding to extremely environment friendly Light Emitting Diode, lasers and radio frequency elements for cooling functions”, Liu stated. It contains many properties that researchers and manufacturers want to harness.

Graphene combined with spider silk is 200 times stronger than steel-so strong it could catch a plane falling from the sky, as reported by Science Recorder in May.

Liu’s research could lead to a new generation of energy-efficient electronics, which could turn current technological paradigms on their heads.

A new study, conducted by scientists from Chalmers University of Technology, suggests that this multi-faceted material can also be utilized for the efficient cooling of electronic devices.

Graphene – the material made of a single-atom carbon layer – to the rescue.

Still, researchers have only been heavily researching graphene for about a decade.

Why has it taken so long to be able to apply graphene film to consumer technology?