biostudies-literatureCheng RDOE | Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy - U.S. Department of Energy)National Science Foundation (NSF)794https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11742011biostudies-literatureUnknown16(1)Effective heat dissipation remains a grand challenge for energy-dense devices and systems. As heterogeneous integration becomes increasingly inevitable in electronics, thermal resistance at interfaces has emerged as a critical bottleneck for thermal management. However, existing thermal interface solutions are constrained by either high thermal resistance or poor reliability. We report a strategy to create printable, high-performance liquid-infused nanostructured composites, comprising a mechanically soft and thermally conductive double-sided Cu nanowire array scaffold infused with a customized thermal-bridge liquid that suppresses contact thermal resistance. The liquid infusion concept is versatile for a broad range of thermal interface applications. Remarkably, the liquid metal infused nanostructured composite exhibits an ultra-low thermal resistance <1 mm² K W^-1 at interface, outperforming state-of-the-art thermal interface materials on chip-cooling. The high reliability of the nanostructured composites enables undegraded performance through extreme temperature cycling. We envision liquid-infused nanostructured composites as a universal thermal interface solution for cooling applications in data centers, GPU/CPU systems, solid-state lasers, and LEDs.Nature communicationsLiquid-infused nanostructured composite as a high-performance thermal interface material for effective cooling.PMC11742011No. TIP-2414733No. DE-AR0001761Salihoglu HJing LZhong YRussell LGarcia-Caraveo AVLiu XLi ZHuang TWang QCheng RKazem NShen SLuo XYun HSWang ZChen TfalseLiquid-infused nanostructured composite as a high-performance thermal interface material for effective cooling.Effective heat dissipation remains a grand challenge for energy-dense devices and systems. As heterogeneous integration becomes increasingly inevitable in electronics, thermal resistance at interfaces has emerged as a critical bottleneck for thermal management. However, existing thermal interface solutions are constrained by either high thermal resistance or poor reliability. We report a strategy to create printable, high-performance liquid-infused nanostructured composites, comprising a mechanically soft and thermally conductive double-sided Cu nanowire array scaffold infused with a customized thermal-bridge liquid that suppresses contact thermal resistance. The liquid infusion concept is versatile for a broad range of thermal interface applications. Remarkably, the liquid metal infused nanostructured composite exhibits an ultra-low thermal resistance <1 mm² K W^-1 at interface, outperforming state-of-the-art thermal interface materials on chip-cooling. The high reliability of the nanostructured composites enables undegraded performance through extreme temperature cycling. We envision liquid-infused nanostructured composites as a universal thermal interface solution for cooling applications in data centers, GPU/CPU systems, solid-state lasers, and LEDs.2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Jan2025-04-25T18:44:53.471Z2025-04-06T07:43:13.348ZS-EPMC117420113982479810.1038/s41467-025-56163-8