I know some metals conduct heat better than others, copper’s a very good conductor (hence it being highly prized on cookware), surely there’s others out there that are better. What makes one metal a better conductor than others?
Copper is pretty good. Silver is the only commonly available material which has better thermal conductivity. Here’s one table of conductivity:
http://www.ijresearch.com/materials.html
In conductors, heat is carried by the flow of free electrons, so there is a good correlation between thermal and electrical conductivity.
Leading the pack in non-metals is diamond, which is about 4x as conductive as copper! To really push the envelope, use diamonds made out of isotopically purified carbon. Strip out the isotopes like C-13 leaving only C-12, and the thermal conductivity skyrockets. Neat stuff.
This article on CPU heatsinks ranks the best metals as silver, copper and gold in that order, with silver and copper well ahead. Considering the additional expense of silver, your second-best choice (copper) is a bargain.
Copper, silver and gold are in the same column (or “group”) in the periodic table. They each have 1 electron in their outmost shells. This is significant because every element is in a life-or-death struggle to get its outermost shell to 2 or 8 electrons, which are the stablest numbers, either by losing electrons or grabbing them. Each of the noble (or inert) gasses has 2 or 8 electrons in its outer shell, and these elements are not reactive to anything, being smugly self-satisfied. The only elements more grabby than copper, silver and gold (all trying to get 2 in the outer shell) are the “Halogens”, in column 17 of the periodic table. These are flourine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine. Each of these has 7 electrons in their outer shells, and their desire to grab the eighth is extreme. Trouble is, none of these elements are metals in the normal sense and none of them make practical (or at least inexpensive) heatsinks.
Halogens are used in compounds (Bromochlorodiflouromethane is sold as ‘Halon 1211’) in high-end sprinkler systems because of their impressive ability to absorb heat, but rarely. Halon doesn’t damage electrical equipment like water or carbon dioxide foam, but chlorine and flourine compounds are notorious ozone-destroyers, and many halogen compounds are toxic to humans. Many venues have outlawed the use of halon sprinklers, though you might find some pre-code high-tech office buildings put up in the eighties that still have them.
here is a fairly good answer
Hydrogen is used for generator cooling at power plants due to its enormous specific heat capacity.
I saw a TV about someone who made a solid gold skillet and let Julia Child cook with it. She raved about its even-heating ability.