An international group of researchers, headed by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has shown that graphene has a heat dissipating effect on silicon-based electronics. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, is a very good heat conductor, ten times better than copper. Graphene has been shown to reduce temperatures in devices such as processors by up to 13 Celsius degrees, which not only improves energy efficiency, but also extends the working life of devices.
Superior cooling of electronics can deliver tremendous advantages. According to a recent study in the USA based on data from 2006, around 50% of the total electricity used to run data servers is consumed by cooling systems. Efficient cooling is a major challenge in many different applications, such as automotive electronics, power electronics, computers, radio base stations and in various light emitting diodes, or LED lights. In automotive electronics systems, any single device in the ignition system can pump out up to 80 W continuousl,y and in transient stage up to 300 W (within 10 nanoseconds). LED devices can have a thermal intensity almost on a par with the sun, up to 600 W/cm2 due to their extremely small size.
The research has been undertaken in partnership with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Shanghai University in China, and Swedish company SHT Smart High Tech AB, has been published in the scientific publication Carbon.
