Evaporation-Crystallization Method to Promote Coalescence-Induced Jumping on Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Biphilic surfaces exhibit outstanding condensation efficiency compared to surfaces having homogeneous wettability. Especially, hydrophilic patterns on a superhydrophobic substrate significantly promote the coalescence-induced jumping of condensed droplets by increasing the nucleation rate of condensation, thus enhancing the condensation efficiency drastically. However, the application of biphilic surfaces in practical industries remains challenging because controlling the size and spacing of the hydrophilic spots on large and complex surfaces is difficult. In this study, we have achieved heterogeneous wettability using the evaporation-crystallization method, which can be applied to various surfaces as required by industries. The crystals generated using the evaporation-crystallization process drastically increased the number density of condensed droplets on a superhydrophobic surface (SHS), so the developed biphilic surface increased the cumulative volume of jumping droplets by up to 63% compared to that on a conventional superhydrophobic surface. Furthermore, the condensation dynamics on the biphilic surface were analyzed with the classical nucleation theory and the Ohnesorge number. The analysis results indicated that the generated hydrophilic crystals can reduce the nucleation energy barrier and decrease the available excessive surface energy of coalesced droplets on the biphilic surface; this implies that the size distribution of the crystals determines the condensation dynamics. In sum, this study not only introduced an effective surface tailoring approach for enhancing condensation but also provided insights into the design of optimum biphilic surfaces for various conditions, creating new opportunities to widen the applicability of biphilic surfaces in practical industries that exploit condensation.