[Paper Review] A light-weight and high thermal performance graphene heat pipe

Ya Liu, Shujing Chen+6 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Feb 26, 2020

Graphene research and applications17 references4 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents a lightweight, high-performance heat pipe enhanced with graphene films and nanostructured copper surfaces, achieving a thermal performance of 6100 W m⁻² K⁻¹ g⁻¹—approximately three times higher than commercial copper-based heat pipes—making it ideal for advanced thermal management in avionics, electric vehicles, and portable electronics.

ABSTRACT

Heat pipe is one of the most efficient tools for heat dissipation in electronics and power systems. Currently, heat pipes are usually made of copper, aluminum or stainless steel. Due to their relatively high density and limited heat transmission capacity, heat pipes are facing urgent challenges in power electronics and power modules. In this paper, we report a new class of graphene enhanced heat pipes that can cope with these issues. The graphene enhanced heat pipes are made of high thermal conductivity graphene assembled film and graphene laminated copper films with nanostructure enhanced inner surfaces. The study shows that the dramatically improved heat dissipation capacity, 6100 W m-2 K-1 g-1, about 3 times higher than that of copper based commercial heat pipes can be achieved. This paves the way for using graphene enhanced heat pipes in light-weight and large capacity cooling applications, as required in many systems such as avionics, automotive electronics, laptop computers, handsets and space electronics.

Motivation & Objective

• Address the limitations of conventional heat pipes made from copper, aluminum, or stainless steel, which suffer from high density and limited heat transfer capacity.
• Overcome the challenges in power electronics and power modules where lightweight and high-capacity cooling is essential.
• Develop a novel heat pipe design using graphene-based films and nanostructured copper surfaces to enhance thermal conductivity and wicking performance.
• Enable applications in demanding environments such as avionics, electric vehicles, and space electronics by combining light weight with superior thermal performance.

Proposed method

• Fabricated a graphene film with high thermal conductivity as the primary heat transfer layer.
• Integrated a graphene-laminated copper structure with nanostructured inner surfaces to enhance capillary wicking and thermal spreading.
• Engineered the heat pipe using a combination of high-conductivity graphene films and micro/nano-structured copper surfaces to improve both thermal transport and fluid return.
• Employed a sealed, vacuum-tight enclosure to maintain operational integrity under high-temperature conditions.
• Utilized thermal performance testing under controlled conditions to measure effective thermal conductivity and heat transfer capacity.
• Quantified performance using the metric W m⁻² K⁻¹ g⁻¹ to compare with conventional copper-based heat pipes.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can graphene-based films significantly enhance the thermal performance of heat pipes beyond conventional copper-based designs?
• RQ2 To what extent does nanostructuring the inner surface of the heat pipe improve capillary wicking and overall heat transfer efficiency?
• RQ3 How does the integration of high-conductivity graphene films affect the specific thermal performance (W m⁻² K⁻¹ g⁻¹) of the heat pipe?
• RQ4 Can the resulting heat pipe achieve both lightweight characteristics and high thermal performance suitable for advanced electronics?
• RQ5 What is the maximum achievable thermal performance of a graphene-enhanced heat pipe compared to commercial copper-based alternatives?

Key findings

• The graphene-enhanced heat pipe achieved a thermal performance of 6100 W m⁻² K⁻¹ g⁻¹, which is approximately three times higher than that of commercial copper-based heat pipes.
• The use of graphene films and nanostructured copper surfaces significantly improved both thermal conductivity and capillary wicking, enabling efficient heat transfer and fluid return.
• The lightweight design, enabled by the low-density graphene and optimized copper structure, makes the heat pipe suitable for applications requiring minimal mass, such as aerospace and portable electronics.
• The heat pipe demonstrated high thermal stability and consistent performance under standard operating conditions, indicating reliability for real-world deployment.
• The results confirm that graphene-based enhancements can overcome the performance and weight limitations of traditional heat pipe materials in high-power electronic systems.