Microchannel heat sinks with nanofluids for cooling electronic components: Performance enhancement, challenges, and limitations

Nowadays, the cooling of electronic components that are widely spread globally is considered a critical issue. Designers and engineers alike confront major obstacles in electronic devices, to find a reliable method to overcome the issues of dissipating high heat flux and ensuring an acceptable limit of operating temperature. The current work attempts to study fluid flow, heat transfer, and thermal performance to avoid hot spots in electronic devices. To intensify the heat rate of electronic components in sophisticated applications with minimum size, the utilization of specified working nanofluids (NFs) rather than traditional ones was promoted. The thermal behavior of a microchannel heat sink (MCHS) utilizing different nanofluids depends essentially on the thermophysical properties of nanoparticles (NPs). In the current study, the aspects related to the cooling of electronics using nanofluids in microchannels (MCs) are deeply discussed. Regarding the distinctive characteristics of the nanoparticles, researchers have noted noteworthy progress in the cooling of electronics, including the use of hybrid nanoparticles, electronics with rough surfaces, utilizing phase change material (PCM), employment of modified channels, and other effects. The thermophysical properties, behaviors, performance, challenges, applications, limitations, and future prospects of nanofluids in electronic components are also presented.