Achieving Sustainability in Thermal Management Research: Assessment, Innovation and Societal Impact
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 13 April 2027 | Viewed by 48
Special Issue Editor
Interests: heat pipes; thermal management; sustainability; thermal comfort
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue invites original research, reviews, data papers and case studies that reposition thermal management, from batteries and power electronics to buildings, aerospace, manufacturing and data centers, as a lever for sustainability. We particularly welcome studies that integrate rigorous thermo‑fluid science with socio‑economic analysis, policy relevance and systems thinking and most importantly, a clear, quantifiable sustainability-related output. The collection will build on state‑of‑the‑art advances in passive two‑phase devices (e.g., loop and pulsating heat pipes), low‑GWP working fluids, hybrid active–passive controls and human‑centric comfort systems, while mapping their implications for sustainable development across sectors. Led by a Guest Editor with experience spanning EV battery thermal management, two‑phase heat transfer (including microgravity investigations), sustainable energy storage (molten salts) and personal comfort systems, the Issue will foreground cross‑domain transfer of solutions and metrics.
Beyond the traditional focus of literature on performance, safety and reliability, this Special Issue submission must define and quantify sustainability using harmonized indicators (e.g., GWP, cumulative energy demand, exergy efficiency, critical‑material intensity, durability/aging), measure and monitor impacts via robust experiments, field trials, or digital twins (with uncertainty). We particularly encourage comparative assessments of passive versus active architectures; circularity‑aware design (disassembly, remanufacturing, benign materials); and applications that connect thermal design to socio‑economic outcomes such as heat‑health resilience, access to efficient cooling, equity and total cost of ownership. Contributions should also discuss policy and legal dimensions, translating laboratory insights into deployable, regulation‑ready solutions.
The overarching goal is to move beyond efficiency alone, establishing thermal management as an integrated pathway to decarbonization, resource stewardship and societal well‑being.
Dr. Marco Bernagozzi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- thermal management
- loop heat pipes
- pulsating heat pipes
- battery thermal management
- low-GWP working fluids
- life‑cycle assessment
- techno‑economic analysis
- additive manufacturing for thermal devices
- circular economy and sustainable cooling
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