Enhancement of capillary and thermal performance of grooved copper heat pipe by gradient wettability surface

The flow of working liquid from condensing section to evaporative section, driven by capillary pressure in grooved microchannels, plays a dominate role in heat transfer for a grooved heat pipe. To enhance the capillary flow and thermal performance, gradient wettability surfaces inside grooved heat pipes were fabricated by the alkali assistant oxidation technique. The tests of thermal performance demonstrated a maximum decrease of 92.6% in...