BIOTEMPLATED SUPERHYDROPHILIC COATINGS FOR ENHANCED FLOW BOILING IN MICROCHANNELS

Lara D. Branco, Alison K. Krick, Stephen M. King, Matthew McCarthy

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Introduction and Motivation

The demand for greater power density in electronic devices drives investigation into more efficient thermal management systems to dissipate the heat associated with them. One method that continues to be explored is two-phase flow in microchannels. Flow-boiling utilizes the latent heat of vaporization of the fluid as a cooling mechanism; this, combined with the increased surface area to volume ratio, is capable of removing higher (roughly 1000x) heat fluxes than in current applications. Surface wettability plays a large role in enhancing two-phase heat transfer. Studies show nanostructured hydrophilic surfaces enable a cyclic flow process which is related to bubble nucleation, growth, and coalescence due to augmented wetting properties [1]. Poor surface wettability leads to excessive superheat and dryout preventing efficient bubble nucleation and detachment [1]. In the present study, the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is utilized as nanoscale scaffold to form super-hydrophilic coatings on copper channel walls to improve two-phase heat transfer.

Experimental Set-up
1 mm
Figure 3: (a) Schematic of experimental set-up; pressurized water forces flow through channel while mass flow controller regulates water flow rate. Cartridge and film heaters connected to power supply heats channel while thermocouples track temperature fluctuation along length of channel. A high-speed camera capture flow regimes. (b) Actual experimental set-up. (c) Microchannel test device with five thermocouples equally distributed over channel length.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Results
Flat Copper Channel TMV-coated Copper Channel
(a) 0 s (a)

Dryout vs. Annular Flow

TMV and Device Design

Tobacco mosaic virus is a rod-shaped plant virus, which is stable up to 60C over pH 2-11. The high aspect ratio biomaterial contains a genetic mutation which introduces thiol groups regularly over its coat protein. These thiol groups are capable of complexing with metals, enhancing the surface binding capability of the virus [2]. These properties make TMV an attractive candidate to coat existing surfaces with a bio-template for hydrophilic coatings to aid in surface wetting and increased heat transfer.

(a) 0 s

30 mm (b) 1.4 s (b) 0.19 s

18 mm t (b)
Liquid Boundary Layer

(c) 2.4 s

Elongated bubble 300 nm Coat proteins containing thiols

(c) 0.38 s

(d) 2.7 s

2 m
Slug 18 nm

Figure 6: Comparison of flow at 1 ccm and 25 W on two channels.(a) In the flat copper channel, greater heat eventually leads to a dryout phenomenon, preventing heat removal from the channel. (b) In the TMV-coated channel, the wicking properties keep the walls of the channel wetted; annular flow with a liquid boundary layer is developed, preventing dryout.

Figure 1. Tobacco mosaic virus

Two microchannels, flat copper and nickel coated TMV, are subjected to two-phase flow. The super hydrophilic TMV-coated channel should keep the walls significantly more wetted, promoting the heat removal quality of the device and preventing a dryout phenomenon.

Figure 4: Two-phase flow through flat copper microchannel at 1.5 ccm and 15 W. The flow goes through a cycle described by: (a) Vapor bubble formation growth; (b) Further growth of bubble; (c) Development of elongated bubble; (d) Slug formation. The cycle occurs within 3 s.

Figure 5: Two-phase flow through TMV-coated copper microchannel at 1.5 ccm and 17.4 W. (a) Vapor bubble nucleation; (b) Bubble growth; (c) Bubble coalescence and departure. This cycle occurs much faster than flat copper s, and bubble departure size is significantly smaller.

Copper channel for uniform heat Teflon Case for insulation Polycarbonate cover Cartridge heater inserted in Cu Thin Film Heater under Cu Dimensions:1mm x 1mm x 30mm

TMV

Conclusions and Future Work

Flat copper surfaces promote elongated vapor bubbles that form into slugs and slow down liquid flow leading to instabilities TMV-coated channels keep vapor bubbles constantly mobile and smaller in size than flat copper channel At higher heat, the hydrophilic channel achieves annular flow with a liquid boundary layer, preventing dryout More experiments need to be performed in order to fully characterize temperature behavior difference between channels A new design should be developed to eliminate leak in testing device Study the effect of multiple channels on the flow regimes and instability Quantitatively analyze the heat transfer qualities of channels coated with TMV

References
[1] Ting Y. Liu. Int. J. Heat and Mass Trans. 54 (2011) 126-134 [2] Gerasopoulos, K. J. Micrmech. Microeng. 18 (2008) 104003 (8pp)

Figure 2. Schematic of test device