IIT Madras Develops New Cooling Technology That Could Reduce Smartphone Overheating

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a new cooling technology that could help reduce overheating in smartphones, laptops, and other compact electronic devices. The research was led by Professor Arvind Pattamatta of the Heat Transfer and Thermal Power Laboratory in collaboration with SSN College of Engineering and DRDO’s Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun.

The study has been published in the journal Experimental Heat Transfer and focuses on a new antiparallel flat plate pulsating heat pipe designed for compact electronics.

New design uses device thickness for cooling

According to the researchers, conventional heat pipes typically allow heat to enter and exit from the same side of the cooling plate. The IIT Madras team developed a design in which heat enters from one face of the device and is released from the opposite face.

Professor Pattamatta said the antiparallel arrangement uses the thickness of the device rather than the limited space available beside the processor, making it more suitable for tightly packed electronics.

Device stayed cooler during testing

The researchers tested the new design under high heat loads and found that it kept the chip around 6°C cooler than the conventional configuration.

A lower chip temperature can help reduce the risk of thermal throttling, where processors automatically slow down to prevent overheating.

O-ring design improved heat transfer

The team also compared two sealing methods used in the heat pipe: a silicon gasket and nitrile O-rings.

According to the study, the O-ring design provided lower thermal resistance and improved cooling performance because it allowed heat to pass more efficiently through the working fluid.

Professor Pattamatta said the O-ring localises the seal instead of placing a continuous gasket layer between the plates, which helps the fluid maintain stronger oscillations under high heat loads.

Aluminium outperformed copper

In another finding, the researchers reported that an aluminium version of the device performed better than a copper version despite copper’s higher thermal conductivity.

Professor Pattamatta said aluminium preserved a stronger temperature difference between the hot and cold regions, which could intensify the two-phase heat transport enough to outweigh its lower solid conductivity.

Surface treatment further enhanced cooling

The researchers also treated the channel walls to make them superhydrophilic, allowing the working fluid to spread into a thin, continuous film.

Professor Pattamatta said thin liquid films evaporate more efficiently and improve liquid replenishment of hot regions, reducing the formation of local dry spots and improving overall heat transfer.

Commercial use will require further testing

The researchers said the technology is still at the laboratory stage and requires further work before commercial deployment.

Professor Pattamatta said future development will require uniform microchannel manufacturing, reliable sealing, leak testing, and long-term qualification for pressure, vibration, corrosion, freeze-thaw conditions, and thousands of thermal cycles.

He added that a permanent metal seal would likely be more suitable than laboratory O-rings for commercial consumer electronics.