液-液相分离工质用于微通道散热的研究进展与展望

doi:10.3976/j.issn.1002-4026.20260004

Abstract

Abstract: With the trend towards miniaturization and higher power in electronic devices, their heat flux has far exceeded the limits of traditional cooling technologies such as air cooling and liquid cooling. Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) has emerged as a novel passive thermal management technique. It leverages the characteristic of a working fluid to absorb heat and generate intense fluid perturbation upon phase separation when exceeding its lower critical solution temperature (LCST), offering a revolutionary solution for cooling extremely high heat fluxes in microchannels. This paper systematically reviews the research progress in this field. First, the thermodynamic principles and the limited selection of environmentally friendly working fluid systems, such as water-triethylamine and water-butoxyethanol, are elucidated. Second, advances in numerical simulations (e.g., phase-field models, molecular dynamics) in revealing microscopic mechanisms like spinodal decomposition and droplet dynamics, as well as experimental studies validating its macroscopic efficacy in enhancing heat transfer and reducing flow pressure drop, are summarized. Furthermore, this paper innovatively explores the significant potential of introducing the well-established "salting-out effect" from chemical separation into this domain. The hydration effect of inorganic salts can actively tune the phase-change characteristics of the working fluid and expand its applicable temperature range. The review identifies existing research gaps, including the missing links between microscopic mechanisms and macroscopic performance, the lack of active control over fluid properties, and the scarcity of system-level reliability studies. Future research should focus on developing intelligent composite working fluids with tunable phase-change properties and deepening the understanding of cross-scale heat transfer mechanisms under external fields like salting-out, to facilitate the transition of this technology from the laboratory to engineering applications.

Key words: liquid-liquid phase separation, microchannel cooling, enhanced heat transfer, critical solution temperature, salting-out effect

CLC Number:

TK124

ZhaoDongyu. Advances and liquid-liquid phase separation working fluids for microchannel heat dissipation[J].Shandong Science, 0, (): 1-.

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Advances and liquid-liquid phase separation working fluids for microchannel heat dissipation

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