Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials for Thermal Management of Medical Devices: A Focused Review on Finned Latent Heat Buffers, Cycling Performance, and Design Optimization

الملخص

Temperature stability is a critical requirement in many medical devices and healthcare workflows, where uncontrolled thermal excursions can degrade measurement accuracy, reliability, and component lifetime. Phase change materials (PCMs) offer compact, near-isothermal thermal buffering; however, practical deployment is often limited by low thermal conductivity and cycle-dependent heat-transfer behavior. This focused review synthesizes peer-reviewed studies on nano-enhanced PCMs (NePCMs) and finned latent heat buffer architectures for medical-oriented thermal management, with emphasis on melting–freezing cycling, repeatability, and design trade-offs relevant to device integration. We summarize enhancement routes (extended surfaces, high-conductivity nanoparticles, and hybrid structures), discuss the competing effects of nanoparticle loading (conductivity gains versus viscosity-driven weakening of natural convection), and highlight why conclusions drawn from melting alone may not translate to full-cycle performance. The review also outlines common evaluation and design-optimization approaches (e.g., CFD based parametric studies and systematic optimization methods) and identifies performance metrics that better reflect medical needs (e.g., cycle time, thermal holdover, and temperature-band compliance). Finally, we provide practical design guidelines and research gaps for translating NePCM-based latent-heat buffers into medical-device component cooling, including packaging, leakage prevention, cycling reliability, and manufacturability. Download full text