An adaptive thermal management method via bionic sweat pores on electronic devices

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Maintaining proper operation temperature is a basial need for electronic devices. However, the current thermal management strategy for electronic devices generally provides a fixed cooling capacity, which cannot be adjusted adaptively based on the working condition. In this study, we report a novel adaptive thermal management method enabling electronic devices to sweat dynamically, similar to human, for adaptive cooling. The proposed method involves the design of adaptive-switching bionic sweat pores, which facilitate the sweating process and sweat evaporation on the surface of electronic devices. To ensure long-term operation, a liquid circulation system is applied as the source of bionic sweat. We conducted experimental research using a test vehicle to evaluate the performance and influencing factors of the method. The results demonstrate that the bionic sweating behavior can provide an additional cooling capacity equivalent to 80% of the original fixed cooling capacity. Furthermore, optimizing factors such as the hydrophily of the evaporation surface, sweating volume, and phase change state of the bionic sweat can enhance the additional cooling capacity. Theoretical analysis further indicates that a maximum additional cooling capacity of up to 208 W/cm2 can be achieved when the bionic sweat was in boiling state.