Experimental case study for optimizing heat sink performance using ZnO nanocarriers integrated with phase change materials for environmental sustainability

Electronic equipment generates heat during prolonged operation, making efficient heat dissipation essential to ensure continuous functionality and prevent premature device failure. Accordingly, phase change materials (PCMs) were employed for thermal management; however, their low thermal conductivity limits their effectiveness in temperature-sensitive electronic systems. PCMs can be made more thermally conductive with the use of nanocomposites-based phase change materials (NcPCMs), which could lower system temperatures and increase device operational lifetimes. In this study, the main objective is to improve overall performance of heat sinks by integrating ZnO nanoparticles into RT54HC (PCM) to enhance thermal conductivity using ZnO/RT54HC (NcPCM) across various transient heat energy loads (09 W to 27 W) and different optimal saturation levels of ZnO, varying between 1.0 wt.% to 3.0 wt.%. Simple and copper foam embedded heat sinks demonstrated significant temperature reduction by incorporating ZnO into cooling media within the internal cavities in contrast to the unfilled, unfinned heat sink under all heat inputs. These findings showed the effectiveness of NcPCM based copper sink in reducing peak temperature of 24.02% and improving operational time of 35 and 69 minutes at targeted critical temperatures of 50 °C and 60 °C owing to favorable characteristics of high thermal conductivity and increased surface area. Hence, the incorporation of nanocomposites into nontoxic environment friendly PCMs is strongly advocated to promote sustainable progress in electronic thermal management, as it offers clean, zero-emission energy storage solution.