Are the heatsinks of the future made of graphite?

If we can believe a study, it is certainly conceivable.

A post on Power Electronics.com highlights that the end days of copper-based ribs may be close. The reason for this is nothing but the high mass of copper.

Everyone knows that the first generations of heat sinks were made of extruded aluminum. Aluminum was a good raw material for several reasons. It has a relatively high thermal conductivity and weighs only 2,7 grams / cm3. However, the process of making the ribs did not allow the production of lamellae of adequate density, so that the heat dissipation surface remained low.

The solution was copper. Higher thermal conductivity has made copper suitable to replace aluminum. The problem was caused by the fact that copper weighed 8,9 grams per cubic centimeter, which significantly increased the weight of the ribs. Some solution to this was that the lamellae of the ribs made with the heat-conducting tube were made of aluminum sheets. It is an unfortunate fact, however, that the heat dissipation of processors is increasing, so the ribs are also gaining weight.

Large ribs represent a large mass, which in many cases becomes dangerous to both the motherboard and the processor, especially when the machine is moved or even pushed.

According to the study, the problem could be a graphite-epoxy composite material developed in 2002, which weighs only 1,9 grams / cubic centimeter and has better thermal conductivity than aluminum and approaches copper. Using the new material, larger ribs could be made than today’s, as the weight of the ribs could be a fraction of today’s due to the new material.

What do we think about this? The idea may indeed work, but it should not be forgotten that the performance of today’s modern coolers is due not only to copper but also to heat-conducting pipes. In fact, the new material may be suitable for replacing copper soles, but it is by no means certain that the performance of the pipes could be replaced by increasing the size of the ribs. In addition, replacing the aluminum slats with the new composite material does not result in nearly as much weight savings as in the case of copper.

Where, on the other hand, the solution to increase cooling capacity may be the market for mobile machines, where due to its small size, most heat sinks are made entirely of copper.

The idea is interesting in any case, we are curious to see what the future holds.