Patent ID: 8235096

Claim:
A heat pipe, comprising: a sealed thermally conductive casing having a length that comprises a first end for coupling to a heat source to be cooled and a second end for coupling to a heat sink opposite said first end, said casing having an inside surface that defines a thermal control volume above; wherein said thermal control volume comprises: (i) a wick comprising a plurality of pores having a pore size defining an interstitial pore volume that extends over a full thickness of said wick or a plurality of microgrooves each having a groove space; (ii) a plurality of hydrophilic particles or clusters of said hydrophilic particles smaller than said pore size or dimensions of said groove space in a size range from nanosize to 5 microns attached as a hydrophilic film to said wick and distributed throughout said interstitial pore volume or distributed throughout said groove spaces, wherein said plurality of particles or said clusters of said hydrophilic particles occupy only a portion of said interstitial pore volume or said groove space; (iii) a vapor cavity above said wick, and (iv) a heat transfer working fluid contained as a liquid in said wick, and as a vapor in said vapor cavity, wherein said plurality of hydrophilic particles or clusters of said hydrophilic particles comprise activated particles or activated clusters of said hydrophilic particles which have a chemisorbed layer of said working fluid on their surface which provides a solid-liquid contact angle for said working fluid when in a liquid state of <30 degrees.