Heat transfer enhancement of phase-change materials (PCMs) based thermal management systems for electronic components: A review of recent advances

Thermal control of electronic components using phase-change materials (PCMs) in heat sinks is an efficient method that has attracted the attention of numerous researchers. However, because of its poor thermal conductivity restrict their usage for cooling electronic components. Hence, to overcome this issue, thermal conductivity enhancers (TCEs) are used. The aim of this article is to conduct a review of different TCEs techniques applied on the PCM-based heat sinks. Included are recent papers on experimental and numerical works with an emphasis on analysing the impact of using TCEs such as fins, foams and nanoparticles for improving the thermal performance of the PCM-based heat sinks. According to the litterature, few studies have been conducted on PCM-based heat sink under intermittent conditions. In addition, there is a lack of numerical works on hybrid heat sinks that showed great thermal cooling than coventional heat sinks. Furthermore, it seems that the interesting heat transfer capabilities of nanoparticles systems, as passive solutions for electronic thermal management are preferable. Because of their high thermal conductivity, high heat storage and with light weight than fins and foams as TCEs techniques. Other conclusions and future perspectives are introduced.