Convection Enhanced Phase Change Composite Fibers for Advanced Thermal Management

Convection Enhanced Phase Change Composite Fibers for Advanced Thermal Management | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Convection Enhanced Phase Change Composite Fibers for Advanced Thermal Management Minsu Liu, Yu Du, Siyuan Ding, Yueni Zhong, Fangzheng Zhen, Ming Yong, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7097215/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Thermal management in modern electronic devices is increasingly challenging, as phase change materials (PCMs) can store large amounts of heat but suffer from inherently low thermal conductivity. We present a strategy to overcome this limitation by harnessing convective flow in molten PCMs to enhance heat transfer in phase change composites (PCCs). Unlike conventional PCCs that rely solely on conductive fillers, our approach exploits active heat transport via PCM fluid motion. We engineered core/shell fibers with macro-channels (>90% porosity) to enable convective flow, surrounded by a dense outer shell for structural integrity and conductive support. Using non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS), we tuned the internal channel architecture and examined its influence on thermal performance. Both experiments and simulations reveal that specific channel structures significantly enhance convective heat transfer, surpassing the contribution from the material’s intrinsic conductivity. The optimized PCC fiber achieves an apparent thermal conductivity of 1.05 W·m -1 ·K -1 with only 4 wt% conductive additives, which outperforms higher-conductivity composites lacking convective enhancement. We further demonstrate improved thermal buffering in electronic devices using these fibers. This work underscores the importance of thermal convection in PCCs and introduces a new design strategy that integrates internal channels to maximize heat transfer efficiency in thermal energy storage systems. Physical sciences/Engineering/Chemical engineering Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Two-dimensional materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7097215","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":485973999,"identity":"b5b09360-fc43-4ced-ac0f-d8466b2c61a1","order_by":0,"name":"Minsu 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We present a strategy to overcome this limitation by harnessing convective flow in molten PCMs to enhance heat transfer in phase change composites (PCCs). Unlike conventional PCCs that rely solely on conductive fillers, our approach exploits active heat transport via PCM fluid motion. We engineered core/shell fibers with macro-channels (\u003e90% porosity) to enable convective flow, surrounded by a dense outer shell for structural integrity and conductive support. Using non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS), we tuned the internal channel architecture and examined its influence on thermal performance. Both experiments and simulations reveal that specific channel structures significantly enhance convective heat transfer, surpassing the contribution from the material’s intrinsic conductivity. The optimized PCC fiber achieves an apparent thermal conductivity of 1.05 W·m\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e·K\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e with only 4 wt% conductive additives, which outperforms higher-conductivity composites lacking convective enhancement. We further demonstrate improved thermal buffering in electronic devices using these fibers. 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