A fin of a heat exchanger includes: a substrate including aluminum or an aluminum alloy, the substrate including a plurality of holes or a plurality of cutout portions in which a plurality of heat transfer tubes are to be disposed respectively; and an organic layer disposed on an end face of the substrate.

Provided is a surface structure having freezing-delaying performance and freezing layer-separating performance The surface structure includes a microstructural layer formed in the form of microscale irregularities and a plurality of nanopores formed in the microstructural layer. A freezing-delaying layer is formed on a surface of the microstructural layer to delay a freezing phenomenon. Also, a hygroscopic material is accommodated in the nanopores, so that when a surface of the freezing-delaying layer starts to freeze, the hygroscopic material is discharged from the nanopores to form a hygroscopic material film, and thus adhesion between the freezing-delaying layer and ice is reduced to allow the ice to be detached from the freezing-delaying layer.

The present disclosure relates to efficient condensing operations and apparatuses. Methods of fabricating condensers and specifically condenser surfaces are also disclosed. A condensing apparatus can include a condenser surface having a substrate and one or more layers of graphene. The substrate can be formed of nickel and a nickel-graphene surface composite layer can be formed. The substrate-graphene composite can be highly durable, hydrophobic, and resistant to fouling. Dropwise condensation can be induced.

Some embodiments include a thermal management plane. The thermal management plane may include a top casing comprising a polymer material; a top encapsulation layer disposed on the top casing; a bottom casing comprising a polymer material; a bottom encapsulation layer disposed on the bottom casing; a hermetical seal coupling the bottom casing with the top casing; a wicking layer disposed between the bottom casing and the top casing; and a plurality of spacers disposed between the top casing and the bottom casing within the vacuum core, wherein each of the plurality of spacers have a low thermal conduction. In some embodiments, the thermal management plane has a thickness less than about 200 microns.

This air conditioner unit comprises a heat exchanger, but does not comprise any device that forcibly passes air to the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger can be installed in a partition part that demarcates a target space from areas outside of the target space, and is configured such that an airflow in contact with the heat exchanger can pass through. The heat exchanger is configured so that a fluid can flow through the interior thereof. Due to a fluid having a temperature different from the outside air temperature flowing through the heat exchanger, the temperature of the airflow flowing from outside of the target space into the target space is changed, and the air inside the target space is conditioned by the airflow of which the temperature was changed.

Embodiments described herein relate to the concept and designs of a polymer-based thermal ground plane. In accordance with one embodiment, a polymer is utilized as the material to fabricate the thermal ground plane. Other embodiments include am optimized wicking structure design utilizing two arrays of micropillars, use of lithography-based microfabrication of the TGP using copper/polymer processing, micro-posts, throttled releasing holes embedded in the micro-posts, atomic layer deposition (ALD) hydrophilic coating, throttled fluid charging structure and sealing method, defect-free ALD hermetic coating, and compliant structural design.

The invention relates generally to liquid-repellent coatings, and in particular, to porous liquid-repellent coatings, a method of preparing the porous liquid-repellent coatings, and a method of characterizing a porous surface for the liquid-repellent coatings. The invention further relates to a porous liquid-repellent coating comprising a porous layer of a transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide and a layer of a liquid-repellent compound deposited onto the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide, wherein the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide is comprised of a plurality of surface pores of varying angles with an average angle that is re-entrant.

A heat and humidity exchanger comprises panels made up of membrane sheets attached on either side of a separator. Channels extend across each panel between the separator and the membrane sheets. The panels are much stiffer than the membrane sheets. Panels are stacked in a spaced apart relationship to provide an ERV core. Spacing between adjacent panels may be smaller than a thickness of the panels,

A humidity control device includes a condenser and a water absorber-drainer. The condenser has a first region and a second region. The first region is a region having hydrophilicity and where moisture is condensed. The condensed moisture is moved by gravity to the water absorber-drainer via the second region. The water absorber-drainer includes a temperature control member and has a water absorption surface and a water drainage surface. When a temperature of the water absorber-drainer is in a first temperature region, the water absorber-drainer absorbs through the water absorption surface the moisture moved from the condenser. When the temperature of the water absorber-drainer is controlled to be in a second temperature region by an operation of the temperature control member, the water absorber-drainer drains the absorbed moisture through the water drainage surface.

Heat transfer systems and methods are provided. The heat transfer system includes an evaporator section integrated with or thermally joined to a heat dissipating system. The evaporator section is connected to a condenser section by a conduit. Together, portions of the evaporator section, the condenser section, and the conduit form a closed volume containing a heat transfer fluid. A superhydrophobic surface is present on at least a portion of the condenser section forming a part of the closed volume. The superhydrophobic surface can include a plurality of carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes can be provided as a forest of carbon nanotubes extending from a rough surface.