Jeffrey J. Barteet said:
>Is there any material out there that's great at conducting heat, but not
>electricity or vice versa?
Glass
>Every heat sink I've ever seen was made of aluminum. And I don't think
>they did it for weight savings. Maybe cost savings?
The best new computer coolers are copper. Like many materials, the oxide of
the material has siginifactly different properties than the pure element.
For small blocks of metal pressed against each other for heat transfer,
aluminum simply stays cleaner and keeps the same tranfer. Copper gets
corroded and builds a thermal resistance layer. However using a good thermal
grease eliminates the air and thus the corrosion. Many new metal-metal heat
sinks in computers are now migrating to copper.
For cars, aluminum is cheaper and seams to cause fewer problems when working
closely with plastics. Probably more for mechanical properties than any
thermal or electrical characteristics.
Mark Hooper
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