MIT Boffins Develop Plastic Based Cooling Technology

[gaurang]

The transformed plastic is as good as metals in conducting heat but also provides electrical insulation.

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[JN]

Unfortunately your heatsink melts into a a puddle of plastic if you forget to connect the fan

 

[alexhull24]

Could take off. Heatsink design has almost reached a peak efficiency without making them significantly larger, and indeed, most new heatsinks are very large.

I can see another potential benefit of plastic - it is a lot easier to make into thin delicate shapes and to work with than copper or aluminium. This means that more efficient designs could be formed to maximise heat dissipation at low airflow without necessarily adding extra bulk to the heatsink.

Now I wasn't aware that electrical conduction was a problem with metal heatsinks, I've never heard about it before. Do chips have to have a large insulating layer before the heatsink? Obviously there needs to be something there, but I never realised it posed a large issue.

 

[TWeaKoR]

Another benefit - plastic weighs a lot less than metal, so you might be able to do away with backplates for a lot of designs.