Three-dimensional chip stacks could be used in computers in the future. Integrated microscale flow batteries could both power and cool them. (Image: Courtesy IBM Research Zurich)
In the future, a new type of tiny redox flow battery will supply tightly packed electronic components with energy, while also dissipating the heat they produce. Researchers at ETH Zurich and IBM Research Zurich have built a tiny redox flow battery. This means that future computer chip stacks - in which individual chips are stacked like pancakes to save space and energy - could be supplied with electrical power and cooled at the same time by such integrated flow batteries. In a flow battery, an electrochemical reaction is used to produce electricity out of two liquid electrolytes, which are pumped to the battery cell from outside via a closed electrolyte loop. "The chips are effectively operated with a liquid fuel and produce their own electricity," says Dimos Poulikakos, Professor of Thermodynamics at ETH Zurich. As the scientists use two liquids that are known to be suitable both as flow-battery electrolytes and as a medium to also effect cooling, excess heat can also be dissipated from the chip stack via the same circuit. The battery built by the scientists is only around 1.5 millimetres thick.
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