Biomimetic Copper Forest Structural Modification Enhances the Capillary Flow Characteristics of the Copper Mesh Wick

Jia-Li Luo, Fan-Bin Zhao, Mou Xu, Dong-Chuan Mo and Shu-Shen Lyu ()
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Jia-Li Luo: School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Fan-Bin Zhao: Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Centre for Advanced Thermal Control Material and System Integration (ATCMSI), Guangzhou 518107, China
Mou Xu: School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Dong-Chuan Mo: School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Shu-Shen Lyu: School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: In a two-phase heat transfer device, achieving a high capillarity of the wick while reducing flow resistance within a limited space becomes the key to improving the heat dissipation performance. As a commonly used wick structure, mesh is widely employed because of its high permeability. However, achieving the desired capillary performance often requires multiple layers to be superimposed to ensure an adequate capillary, resulting in an increased thickness of the wick. In this study, an ultra-thin biomimetic copper forest structural modification of copper mesh was performed using an electrochemical deposition to solve the contradiction between the permeability and the capillary. The experiments were conducted on a copper mesh to investigate the effects of various conditions on their morphology and capillary performance. The results indicate that the capillary performance of the modified copper mesh improves with a longer deposition time. The capillary pressure drops can reach up to 1400 Pa when using ethanol as the working fluid. Furthermore, the modified copper mesh demonstrates a capillary performance value (Δ P c ·K ) of 8.44 × 10 −8 N, which is 1.7 times higher than that of the unmodified samples. Notably, this enhanced performance is achieved with a thickness of only 142 μm. The capillary limit can reach up to 45 W when the modified copper mesh is only 180 μm. Microscopic flow analysis reveals that the copper forest modified structure maintains the original high permeability of the copper mesh while providing a greater capillary force, thereby enhancing the overall flow characteristics.

Keywords: biomimetic copper forest; capillary flow; capillary performance value; permeability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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