Experimental facility for the study of diffusive transport phenomena in metalfoams, fuel cells, and nanofluids

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The high-power density and compactness of next generation microelectronic devices as well as growing demands for efficient heat exchange in emerging technologies such as fuel cells and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) require innovative thermal management solutions. Utilizing new materials such as metalfoams and nanofluids as innovative heat exchange media is an attractive choice to satisfy this impending need. A research program is being established at the University of Victoria. The requested equipment provides the core capability for measuring diffusive microscale heat transfer phenomena in a number of projects in the research program, including: A) Transport phenomena in metalfoams B) Effective thermal conductivity in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in fuel cells C) Thermal characteristics of nanofluids and thermal interface materials (TIM). These phenomena include effective thermal conductivity, thermal contact resistance (TCR) and the formation factor in vacuum and rarefied gaseous environment, with gas temperatures between 50 and 300 C, under a range of applied load. The equipment requested enables the experimentation which is absolutely essential to this research program.