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Creators/Authors contains: "Germain, Thomas"

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  1. Fabricating micro and nanosized structures to induce hemiwicking on a heated surface has risen in popularity due to the higher heat flux the surface can experience. Recent studies have focused on the effects on the pillar geometry and spacing on the wicking velocity and the critical heat flux. As a result, a majority of the models that have been derived focus on the fluid properties and the wicking structure geometry and spacing. This study presents changes to the wicking performance when the stiffness of a soft material is taken into effect. Multiple similar wicking structures were fabricated using a negative mold method utilizing an in-house stamping apparatus. Using the mold, multiple polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples were created, where the stiffness of the samples was varied by altering the mixing ratio and the curing time. The wicking velocity of ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and isooctane did not vary for the samples that had a Young's Modulus greater than 1 MPa, but a notable decrease in the wicking velocity for all three fluids were observed for samples with a Young's Modulus less than 1 MPa. This study provides insight to the importance of the stiffness of the material is for hemiwicking on soft materials and that deformation effects have to be taken into account for Young's Moduli less than 1 MPa. 
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