Waterloo’s hybrid immersion cooling uses encapsulated coolant drops to cut chip hotspots by up to 17°C in 15s
Researchers at the University of Waterloo developed a hybrid cooling approach that pairs general immersion in deionized water with encapsulated drops of a low‑boiling coolant. In lab tests a single drop lowered a simulated chip hotspot by up to 17°C in 15 seconds. The team published the results in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science and demonstrated a silicone‑coated, ceramic‑enhanced shell to tune boiling.
Led by Prof. Sushanta Mitra with Dr. Tian‑Yu Zhang and PhD student Arnav Banerjee, the Waterloo team built on liquid‑liquid encapsulation to keep heavy, low‑boiling coolant drops localized at transient hotspots while water manages steady heat. The encapsulating silicone layer, strengthened with heat‑conductive ceramic particles, allows controlled boiling and faster heat removal through bubble stirring. They propose systems where drops either circulate or are delivered by sensors, with potential uses in AI data centres, EVs, batteries, lasers and high‑power LEDs.
Read the original story · Université de Waterloo — nouvelles — https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/waterloo-innovation-could-make-cooling-ai-data-centres