The graphene oxide-deionized water (GO-DW) and graphene oxide-ethylence glycol (GO-EG) nanofluids were synthesized. The better suspension of nanofluids was achieved. The thermal conductivity of both nanofluids was analyzed. It indicates that GO nanoparticles can strengthen the thermal conductivity of DW base fluids by 22.6%–61.7% and EG base fluids by 15.3%–32.8%. Four copper heat pipes charged with GO-DW and GO-EG nanofluids as well as DW and EG base fluids were experimentally researched, it is discovered that the addition of GO nonoparticles in heat pipe can elevate the condenser wall temperature and reduce the temperature difference. Future analysis finds that, with respect to DW and EG fluids heat pipe, the thermal resistances of GO-DW and GO-EG nanofluids heat pipe are respectively decreased 42.6–52.4% and 31.9%–38.4% for air cooling, and 15.5–16.7% and 11.5%–18.9% for water cooling at condenser section. Besides, the wick structure of GO-DW nanofluids heat pipe was examined by Scanning Electron Microscope, and the effective thermal conductivity of fluid-wick combination was evaluated. The outcomes demonstrate that the evaporator wick surface contains about 0375–1.24μm coating film of GO nanoparticles. Assumed the coating film is 0.75μm, the effective thermal conductivity of fluid-wick combination is respectively enhanced by 66.92 % for GO-DW nonofluids heat pipe and 37.32% for GO-EG nonofluids heat pipe at 70 °C.

Wicking materials with tunable wettability are of great importance for both fundamental research and practical applications such as heat pipes. In this work, we adopt recently developed titanium bulk micromachining[1] techniques to fabricate pillar arrays. Then we modify the micromachined pillars to form micro- & nano-textured (bitextured) titania structures (BTS). Further, we investigated how to plate gold on the modified surfaces to tune the wettability. A wicking material for heat pipe requires super wetting by common fluids such as water. We show theoretical studies and experimental work to investigate the wetting behavior of two different designs/samples. For heat pipe applications the BTS and plating gold not only increases the capillary pressure which enhances liquid pumping from condenser to evaporator, but also increases the heat transfer performance by extended surface and smaller pore sizes[2]. Testing results show that water can completely wet the micromachined Ti pillars (Design A: 5μm in diameter/5μm gap). The BTS helps increase the wetting speed by over 100% for this design. A second design with much larger diameter and gap (Design B: 100μm in diameter/50μm in gap) is also tested to compare with design A for wetting speed. Results show that Design B gives a wetting speed twice of Design A. Plating method is used to decrease pillar gap (from 50μm to 5μm) by growing gold on surfaces. This will help increase thermal conductivity of wicking material which is preferred for the evaporator and condenser regions of heat pipes. Wetting experiment is done on Sample B after plating with gold. Wetting results after Au plating show that wetting velocity decreases but is still significantly large.

This article presents the development of silicon based heat spreader devices, called hexcells. Several key technical aspects, including the hexcell MEMS fabrication process, mechanical strength studies, vacuum sealing technique, and phase change and mass transport visualization, have been developed and studied. The hexcell development prototypes are fabricated by MEMS photolithography and dry-etch processes, with eutectic bonding to form a sealed silicon chamber with openings for charging with the working fluid. Using Ansys as the modeling tool, we optimized the hexcell total mechanical strength by incorporating six interior support posts to reinforce the structure. In terms of the optimized design, experimental results on actual hexcell samples show that a well-bonded hexcell can withstand over 60psi without destructive failure. Vacuum sealing are divided into helium and vapor leakage tests. With metalized and solder-sealed sidewalls, both testing results confirm good vacuum sealing. The wick structure used in the present hexcell is silicon pillars with dimensions of 50μm in diameter and 250μm in height. The pillars are etched before the hexcell is bonded and formed. Experiments using the silicon wick structure demonstrate over 300W/cm 2 cooling capacity and visualization shows the intensive phase change on the heating area.

This paper introduces a high performance vapor chamber heat spreader with a novel bi-dispersed wick structure. The main wick structure is a sintered porous network in a latticed pattern, which contains not only small pores to transport liquid by capillary forces, but also many slots to provide large passages to vent vapor from heated surfaces. The copper particles have a diameter of approximately 50 μm; they produce an effective pore radius of approximately 13 μm after sintering. The slots have a typical width of approximately 500 μm. Unlike traditional bi-dispersed wick structures, the latticed wick structures provide undisrupted liquid delivery passages and vapor escape channels and thus greatly improve the heat transfer performance. Preliminary experimental tests were conducted and the results were analyzed. It was shown by the experiments that vapor chamber heat spreaders with the latticed wicks present three times improvement on heat spreading performance, comparing with a solid copper heat spreader, and much improved capacity to handle hot spots with local heat fluxes exceeding 300 W/cm 2 , which will have great impacts on extending heat pipe technology from traditional low to medium heat fluxes to high heat flux applications.