Performance evaluation of nanofluid-enhanced biomimetic liquid-cooled heat sinks for efficient thermal management applications

• Developed biomimetic heat sinks inspired by aquatic internal–external flow mechanisms. • Thermal–hydraulic performance assessed under varied flow rates and heat loads. • Hybrid nanofluid formulations offered enhanced thermal performance with balanced trade-offs. • Proposed design achieved 103% Nusselt number improvement over conventional straight channels. • Ag/SiC hybrid nanofluid delivered up to 22.3% heat transfer gain with manageable pressure drop. Efficient thermal management is critical in high-power-density systems found in electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy devices, aerospace platforms, and data centres. This study aims to enhance thermal performance through the development of nature-inspired heat sink geometries integrated with advanced nanofluids. Two novel biomimetic configurations, Inline Arranged Airfoil Integrated Curvilinear Pin-Fin (IACPF) and Inline Arranged Airfoil Integrated Corrugated Curvilinear Pin-Fin (AICCPF) were experimentally evaluated across heating powers of 75–300 W and flow rates ranging from 200 to 450 mL/min. These heat sinks were tested using mono and hybrid nanofluids formulated with silver (Ag), silicon carbide (SiC), and beryllium oxide (BeO) nanoparticles, chosen for their high thermal conductivity, dispersion stability, and economic viability. The experimental methodology focused on assessing thermal and hydraulic performance through key parameters including Nusselt number, thermal resistance, wall temperature, and pressure drop. Comparative study showed that, using water as the working fluid at 75 W, the AICCPF heat sink delivered a 10.23% improvement in Nusselt number over the IACPF. When benchmarked against a conventional straight-channel heat sink, the AICCPF design at 150 W demonstrated a 103% enhancement in Nusselt number, confirming its geometric effectiveness. Among nanofluids, the highest convective enhancement was achieved using Ag/SiC hybrid nanofluid, yielding a peak improvement of 22.29% in the AICCPF configuration. Pressure drops remained within manageable limits, with a maximum increase of 15.86%. These findings demonstrate that combining biomimetic heat sink architectures with thermally optimised nanofluids achieves high thermal performance while maintaining acceptable hydraulic penalties. The proposed approach offers scalable, energy-efficient solutions for next-generation cooling applications.