University of Central Florida Research Foundation Inc

Ut-battelle, Inc.

Ming Su

Louis Chow

Edward T Mahefkey

Thomas George Thundat

David Hedden

A method for manufacturing a heat pipe. Activated particles or particle clusters are formed. The activated particles or particle clusters are contacted with a working fluid in a non-oxidizing environment to form a chemisorbed layer of the working fluid thereon to generate chemisorbed working fluid surfaced activated hydrophilic particles or activated hydrophilic particle clusters which provide a solid-liquid contact angle to working fluid when subsequently added of &#x3c;30 degrees. The chemisorbed working fluid surfaced activated hydrophilic particles or hydrophilic particle clusters are vacuum transferred and filled inside the heat pipe along with an additional volume of working fluid. The heat pipe is then sealed.

Hydrophilic particle enhanced heat exchange and method of manufacture

A heat pipe includes a sealed thermally conductive casing having a length that has a first end for coupling to a heat source to be cooled and a second end for coupling to a heat sink opposite the first end. The casing has an inside surface that defines a thermal control volume above. The thermal control volume includes (i) a plurality of hydrophilic particles or clusters of hydrophilic particles in a size range from nano size to micron size attached as a hydrophilic film to the inside surface or to a wick on the inside surface, wherein the plurality of hydrophilic particles occupy only a portion of an area of the inside surface or an internal pore space of the wick or a surface area of the wick, (ii) a vapor cavity above the hydrophilic film or the wick, and (iii) a heat transfer working fluid contained as a liquid on the hydrophilic film or the wick, and as a vapor in the vapor cavity. The plurality of hydrophilic particles or clusters of hydrophilic particles provide a solid-liquid contact angle for the working fluid when in a liquid state of &#x3c;30 degrees, typically &#x3c;10 degrees.

Hydrophilic particle enhanced phase change-based heat exchange

An electrically-induced deflective amplification sensor as an actively controlled and reconfigurable nanomechanical sensor for the detection and recognition of chemicals, biomolecules, and gaseous molecules. The electrically-induced deflective amplification sensors use electric fields to control the bending of transducers, have adjustable sensitivities that depend on electric field strength, and reconfigurable operation ranges for the detection of target molecules at ultra-low and ultra-high concentrations. The sensors are highly integrated, sensitive, provide real-time detection ability, and do not require labels. The electrically-induced deflective amplification transducers can be reconfigured to identify molecules in spectroscopy. A new type of electrophoresis is established using nanostructured transducers. The E-IDEA is applicable to optical fiber, nanomechanical cantilever, waveguide and nanowire or nanotube tranducers. These adaptive and reconfigurable sensors have application in the fields of national security, public health and economic development.

Electrically deflected nanomechanical sensors

A method and apparatus for identifying a sample, involves illuminating the sample with light of varying wavelengths, transmitting an acoustic signal against the sample from one portion and receiving a resulting acoustic signal on another portion, detecting a change of phase in the acoustic signal corresponding to the light of varying wavelengths, and analyzing the change of phase in the acoustic signal for the varying wavelengths of illumination to identify the sample. The apparatus has a controlled source for illuminating the sample with light of varying wavelengths, a transmitter for transmitting an acoustic wave, a receiver for receiving the acoustic wave and converting the acoustic wave to an electronic signal, and an electronic circuit for detecting a change of phase in the acoustic wave corresponding to respective ones of the varying wavelengths and outputting the change of phase for the varying wavelengths to allow identification of the sample. The method and apparatus can be used to detect chemical composition or visual features. A transmission mode and a reflection mode of operation are disclosed. The method and apparatus can be applied at nanoscale to detect molecules in a biological sample.

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Oviedo, FL, United States of America

Ming Su