Highly dispersed two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide nanofluids for heat dissipation enhancement in high-power electronic chips

The application of nanofluid technology in microchannel flow boiling heat transfer systems represents an effective approach for enhancing the cooling efficiency of electronic devices. However, conventional nanofluids generally suffered from complex preparation processes, insufficient stability, and uncontrollable nanoparticle sizes, etc., which significantly restricted their heat transfer performance. In this study, a novel nanofluid (designated as MP nanofluid) was fabricated via ultrasonic fragmentation of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets, followed by surface modification mediated by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The resulting nanofluid demonstrated excellent dispersion stability and substantially improved flow boiling heat transfer performance. Specifically, the formulated nanofluids exhibited excellent stability at 80 °C for over 14 days and under ambient condition for 90 days without aggregation or sedimentation. More importantly, flow boiling experiments demonstrated that the MP nanofluid, at just 5 ppm and 0.13 m/s, boosts the critical heat flux (CHF) by 110 % and the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) by 114 % as compared to the basic fluid, significantly outperforming conventional nanofluids at higher concentrations. Further visualization studies revealed that the enhancement stems from reduced bubble size and a faster growth-to-collapse cycle, which in turn prevents the boiling crisis in electronic chips associated with large bubble coverage. Overall, this research provides novel insights into the application of MoS₂-based nanofluids in advanced thermal management systems, exhibiting their significant potential for electronic device cooling.