I-Corps: Novel Greases Containing Carbon Nano Particles

South Dakota School Of Mines And Technology, Rapid City SD

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is more efficient heat transfer in a variety of potential industrial and consumer electronics applications. More efficient heat transfer translates into greater computational speed and output. In a world where electronics are growing more powerful and are ever increasing in capacity, the ability to remove heat is a significant consideration. This platform technology has the potential to be integrated as a high performance thermal grease. One possible application is as a computer CPU grease (or heat paste, heat sink compound, heat sink paste, thermal compound, thermal gel, thermal interface material, or thermal paste). Similar products are commonly used as an interface between heat sinks and heat sources. This I-Corps project further develops a class of novel greases that incorporate nanoparticles to enhance their performance. Thesee are stable and homogeneous greases based on carbon nanotubes in polyalphaolefin oil. Inter molecular Van der Waals forces and three dimensional percolation networks in the grease structure are determined to be the stability of the grease. The work builds on a recent discovery of a way to significantly enhance the electrical and thermal conductivity of the grease by including these additional additives in small amounts.