Performances of loop heat pipe with the novel bi-porous quaternary MAX phase Ti3(Al,Si)C2 capillary wick

Quaternary MAX phases with alloying at M-, A- and X-sites have attracted much attention to meet comprehensive requirements. However, few studies have reported their applications in large dimensions. In this work, a novel loop heat pipe (LHP) was successfully assembled with the bi-porous quaternary Ti3(Al,Si)C2 wick synthesized by vacuum sintering. The Ti3(Al,Si)C2 wick had better strength and lower thermal conductivity than that of conventional nickel wicks. The bi-porous structure formed by fine pores nesting large pores assisted the self-adjustment ability of LHP. The rapid startup, steady operation and reliable self-adjustment against the external heat variations highly demonstrated feasibility of applying quaternary MAX phase Ti3(Al,Si)C2 to replace traditional metals and ceramics in LHP wicks.