Research progress on bionic enhanced heat transfer applications in batteries

Conventional battery cooling methods, including air, liquid, and phase change material (PCM) cooling, face method-specific limitations related to energy consumption, leakage risks, and thermal response lag. To address these bottlenecks, biomimetics provides an alternative paradigm for Battery Thermal Management Systems (BTMS) by replicating the highly efficient structures and functional mechanisms of biological systems. This review systematically categorizes and evaluates biomimetic heat transfer enhancement strategies across three dimensions. First, morphological biomimetics manipulates micro-scale surface textures to intensify convective heat transfer via local vortex generation and extended surface areas. Second, structural biomimetics optimizes internal heat transport pathways by mimicking natural spatial topologies. Third, functional biomimetics replicates biological dynamic response mechanisms to enable adaptive thermal regulation under varying operational loads. Furthermore, this paper critically assesses the engineering feasibility of current bio-inspired designs and outlines essential future trajectories, prioritizing multi-level synergistic design, data-driven predictive control, and topology optimization under manufacturing and cost constraints. This comprehensive analysis provides a basis and design considerations for developing advanced, reliable, and energy-efficient BTMS.