Thermal Characteristics of Metal-to-Insulator Phase Transition Materials and Its Latent Heat Utilization Technique

Abstract

This article outlines the latent heat transport properties of the metal-to-insulator phase transition materials that our research group has been conducting. The metallic solid-solid phase change materials exhibit no change in shape before and after the phase change, and therefore require no container to maintain their shape when applied to heat sink devices. This can be a fundamental solution to the problems of increased thermal resistance due to the container or capsule, and leakage of the phase change material due to their breakage, which are apparent in conventional solid-liquid type phase change thermal storage systems. In this article, we introduce the thermal behavior of vanadium dioxide for a heat sink material.