Engineers at the University of California San Diego have introduced a cutting-edge cooling technology that could dramatically enhance the energy efficiency of data centers and high-powered electronics. The innovation centers on a specially engineered fiber membrane that passively dissipates heat through evaporation—offering a compelling, low-energy alternative to conventional systems such as fans, heat sinks, and liquid pumps. It also promises to reduce water consumption, a major drawback of many existing cooling methods.
This breakthrough is detailed in a paper published June 13 in Joule.
As the global appetite for artificial intelligence and cloud computing grows, so does the need for processing power—and the intense heat that comes with it. Currently, cooling systems consume up to 40% of a data center’s energy. If trends continue, the global energy demand for cooling could more than double by 2030.
The new technology developed at UC San Diego offers a potential solution. It uses a low-cost fiber membrane designed with a network of interconnected pores that draw cooling liquid across its surface via capillary action. As the liquid evaporates, it efficiently removes heat from the underlying electronics—without requiring external energy input. The membrane sits atop microchannels that supply it with fluid, which it uses to carry heat away.
“Compared to traditional air or liquid cooling, evaporation can handle much higher heat fluxes while consuming less energy,” said Renkun Chen, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC San Diego, who co-led the research with fellow professors Shengqiang Cai and Abhishek Saha. Graduate student Tianshi Feng and postdoctoral researcher Yu Pei, both from Chen’s lab, served as co-first authors of the study.
Evaporative cooling is already used in applications like heat pipes in laptops and air conditioner components, but adapting it for high-power electronics has been a major hurdle. Earlier designs using porous membranes failed because their pores were either too small, leading to clogging, or too large, causing uncontrolled boiling.
The UC San Diego team overcame these issues by selecting fiber membranes with pores precisely engineered for optimal evaporation—large enough to prevent clogging but small enough to avoid boiling. This balance enabled the system to achieve exceptional results.
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When tested under a range of heat conditions, the membrane demonstrated record-setting performance, sustaining heat fluxes over 800 watts per square centimeter—among the highest ever documented for passive evaporative systems. It also showed long-term stability during continuous operation.
“This project demonstrates the potential of repurposing materials for entirely new uses,” said Chen. “These membranes were originally intended for filtration. No one had considered them for cooling, but their structure—interconnected pores of the right size—makes them uniquely suited for evaporation. With proper reinforcement, they not only tolerated the extreme heat but performed extraordinarily well.”
Despite the strong results, the system is still operating below its theoretical maximum. The team is now focused on optimizing the membrane design and boosting performance further. Upcoming goals include embedding the membranes into cold plate prototypes—flat devices that attach to processors like CPUs and GPUs to dissipate heat. In addition, the researchers are launching a startup to commercialize the technology and bring it to market.
