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Published on: September 11, 2018
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Dropwise Condensation on Multiscale Bioinspired Metallic Surfaces with Nanofeatures
Daniel Orejon1,2, Alexandros Askounis2,3, Yasuyuki Takata2,4
1Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, School of Engineering , The University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh EH9 3FD , Scotland, U.K.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|June 11, 2019
Summary
Researchers developed durable, non-hydrophobic coated metallic surfaces for efficient condensation. Inspired by lotus leaves, these surfaces promote dropwise condensation, enhancing applications like heat transfer and self-cleaning.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Engineering
- Thermodynamics
Background:
- Hydrophobic coatings on metallic surfaces degrade, limiting applications like self-cleaning and anti-icing.
- Intrinsically nonwetting metallic surfaces offer a durable alternative for condensation heat transfer and other applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate and investigate wetting behavior and condensation performance on metallic surfaces with engineered roughness tiers.
- To demonstrate continuous dropwise condensation on a bioinspired, non-coated metallic surface.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of metallic surfaces with varying hierarchical roughness tiers.
- Analysis of wetting behavior using drop surface energy analysis.
- Evaluation of condensation performance under different surface conditions.
Main Results:
- A rose petal-inspired surface showed sticky nonwetting and filmwise condensation.
- A lotus leaf-inspired surface exhibited super-repellent nonwetting and dropwise condensation.
- Nanoscale roughness on the lotus surface promoted Cassie state condensation with minimal adhesion.
Conclusions:
- Hierarchical metallic surfaces can achieve nonwetting behavior without hydrophobic coatings.
- Lotus leaf-inspired surfaces enable efficient dropwise condensation for phase change applications.
- This work presents a novel approach for designing durable, non-coated metallic super-repellent surfaces.
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