Dropwise Condensation on Multiscale Bioinspired Metallic Surfaces with Nanofeatures

Porous Spindle-Knot Fiber by Fiber-Microfluidic Phase Separation for Water Collection and Nanopatterning

Porous spindle-knot structures have been found in many creatures, such as spider silk and the root of the soybean plant, which show interesting functions such as droplet collection or biotransformation. However, continuous fabrication of precisely controlled porous spindle-knots presents a big challenge, particularly in striking a balance among good structural controllability, low-cost, and functions. Here, we propose a concept of a fiber-microfluidics phase separation (FMF-PS) strategy to address the above challenge. This FMF-PS combines the advantages of a microchannel regulated Rayleigh instability of polymer solution coated onto a fiber with the nonsolvent-induced phase separation of the polymer solution, which enables continuous and cost-effective production of porous spindle-knot fiber (PSKF) with well-controlled size and porous structures. The critical factors controlling the geometry and the porous structures of the spindle-knot by FMF-PS have been systematically investigated. For applications, the PSKF exhibited faster water droplet nucleation, growth, and maximum water collection capability, compared to the control samples, as revealed by in situ water collection growth curves. Furthermore, high-level fabrics of the PSKFs, including a two-dimensional network and three-dimensional architecture, have been demonstrated for both large-scale water collection and art performance. Finally, the PSKF is demonstrated as a programmable building block for surface nanopatterning.

Hierarchical Structure with Microcrater Covered with Nanograss Enhancing Condensation and Its Antifrosting/Anti-Icing Performance Inspired by Euphorbia helioscopia L

Over an extended period of evolution and natural selection, a multitude of species developed a diverse array of biological interface features with specific functions. These biological structures provide a rich source of inspiration for the design of bionic structures on superhydrophobic surfaces. Understanding the functional mechanism of plant leaves is of paramount importance for the advancement of new engineering materials and the further promotion of engineering applications of bionic research. The hierarchical structure of microcrater-covered nanograss (MCNG) on the surface of E. helioscopia L. leaf provided the inspiration for the bionic MCNG surface, which was successfully prepared on a copper substrate by hybrid laser micromachining technology and chemical etching. The combined action of texture structure and surface chemistry resulted in a contact angle of 169° ± 1° for MCNG surface droplets and a rolling angle of less than 1°. Notably, the condensation-induced adhesion force does not augment with the increase of the temperature difference, which facilitated the shedding of hot droplets from the surface. The microscope observation revealed a high density of condensed droplets on the MCNG surface and the tangible jumping behavior of the droplets. The fabricated MCNG also demonstrated excellent antifrost/anti-icing abilities in low-temperature and high-humidity environments. Finally, the study confirmed the exceptional mechanical durability and reusability of the MCNG surface through various tests, including scratch damage, sandpaper wear, water flow impact and flushing, and condensation-drying cycle tests. The nanograss can be effectively protected within the microcrater structure. This research presents a promising approach for preventing and/or removing unwanted droplets in numerous engineering applications.

Ambient-mediated wetting on smooth surfaces

A consensus was built in the first half of the 20th century, which was further debated more than 3 decades ago, that the wettability and condensation mechanisms on smooth solid surfaces are modified by the adsorption of organic contaminants present in the environment. Recently, disagreement has formed about this topic once again, as many researchers have overlooked contamination due to its difficulty to eliminate. For example, the intrinsic wettability of rare earth oxides has been reported to be hydrophobic and non-wetting to water. These materials were subsequently shown to display dropwise condensation with steam. Nonetheless, follow on research has demonstrated that the intrinsic wettability of rare earth oxides is hydrophilic and wetting to water, and that a transition to hydrophobicity occurs in a matter of hours-to-days as a consequence of the adsorption of volatile organic compounds from the ambient environment. The adsorption mechanisms, kinetics, and selectivity, of these volatile organic compounds are empirically known to be functions of the substrate material and structure. However, these mechanisms, which govern the surface wettability, remain poorly understood. In this contribution, we introduce current research demonstrating the different intrinsic wettability of metals, rare earth oxides, and other smooth materials, showing that they are intrinsically hydrophilic. Then we provide details on research focusing on the transition from wetting (hydrophilicity) to non-wetting (hydrophobicity) on somooth surfaces due to adsorption of volatile organic compounds. A state-of-the-art figure of merit mapping the wettability of different smooth solid surfaces to ambient exposure as a function of the surface carbon content has also been developed. In addition, we analyse recent works that address these wetting transitions so to shed light on how such processes affect droplet pinning and lateral adhesion. We then conclude with objective perspectives about research on wetting to non-wetting transitions on smooth solid surfaces in an attempt to raise awareness regarding this surface contamination phenomenon within the engineering, interfacial science, and physical chemistry domains.

Nanorough Is Not Slippery Enough: Implications on Shedding and Heat Transfer

Lowering droplet-surface interactions via the implementation of lubricant-infused surfaces (LISs) has received important attention in the past years. LISs offer enhanced droplet mobility with low sliding angles and the recently reported slippery Wenzel state, among others, empowered by the presence of the lubricant infused in between the structures, which eventually minimizes the direct interactions between liquid droplets and LISs. Current strategies to increase heat transfer during condensation phase-change relay on minimizing the thickness of the coating as well as enhancing condensate shedding. While further surface structuring may impose an additional heat transfer resistance, the presence of micro-structures eventually reduces the effective condensate-surface intimate interactions with the consequently decreased adhesion and enhanced shedding performance, which is investigated in this work. This is demonstrated by macroscopic and optical microscopy condensation experimental observations paying special attention at the liquid-lubricant and liquid-solid binary interactions at the droplet-LIS interface, which is further supported by a revisited force balance at the droplet triple contact line. Moreover, the occurrence of a condensation-coalescence-shedding regime is quantified for the first time with droplet growth rates one and two orders of magnitude greater than during condensation-coalescence and direct condensation regimes, respectively. Findings presented here are of great importance for the effective design and implementation of LISs via surface structure endowing accurate droplet mobility and control for applications such as anti-icing, self-cleaning, water harvesting, and/or liquid repellent surfaces as well as for condensation heat transfer.

Origami-like 3D Fog Water Harvestor with Hybrid Wettability for Efficient Fog Harvesting

Collecting water in fog has also become a breakthrough to solve the hidden danger of water shortage in some arid areas. The three-dimensional (3D) structure fog collection material can increase the surface area in direct contact with the fog flow and reduce the quick flow of fog, which can effectively improve the fog collection efficiency. Imitating the three-dimensional structure of corrugated paper, the 3D fog collecting material with hybrid wettability was prepared by chemical and physical means. We discuss the influence of different wettability combinations on the fog collection efficiency of 3D structures and study the influence of spraying times and illumination times on the surface wettability during the construction of wettability. We also study the influence of the concavity and tip as well as the bending angle on the fog collection in the 3D structure and obtain the most reasonable concavity and convex ratio and bending angle. The superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic 3D structure fog harvesting material prepared by us performs well in the fog harvesting process, and the fog harvesting efficiency reaches 1.442 g cm-2 h-1. The fog collection efficiency is 418% of the original zinc sheet. At the same time, compared with the superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic hybrid two-dimensional (2D) plane, the increase is 168%, and compared with the superhydrophobic 3D structure, the increase is 150%.

Mitigating Contamination with Nanostructure-Enabled Ultraclean Storage

Airborne hydrocarbon contamination hinders nanomanufacturing, limits characterization techniques, and generates controversies regarding fundamental studies of advanced materials; consequently, we urgently need effective and scalable clean storage techniques. In this work, we propose an approach to clean storage using an ultraclean nanotextured storage medium as a getter. Experiments show that our proposed approach can maintain surface cleanliness for more than 1 week and can even passively clean initially contaminated samples during storage. We theoretically analyzed the contaminant adsorption-desorption process with different values of storage medium surface roughness, and our model predictions showed good agreement with experiments for smooth, nanotextured, and hierarchically textured surfaces, providing guidelines for the design of future clean storage systems. The proposed strategy offers a promising approach for portable and cost-effective storage systems that minimize hydrocarbon contamination in applications requiring clean surfaces, including nanofabrication, device storage and transportation, and advanced metrology.

Preferred Mode of Atmospheric Water Vapor Condensation on Nanoengineered Surfaces: Dropwise or Filmwise?

Condensing atmospheric water vapor on surfaces is a sustainable approach to addressing the potable water crisis. However, despite extensive research, a key question remains: what is the optimal combination of the mode and mechanism of condensation as well as the surface wettability for the best possible water harvesting efficacy? Here, we show how various modes of condensation fare differently in a humid air environment. During condensation from humid air, it is important to note that the thermal resistance across the condensate is nondominant, and the energy transfer is controlled by vapor diffusion across the boundary layer and condensate drainage from the condenser surface. This implies that, unlike condensation from pure steam, filmwise condensation from humid air would exhibit the highest water collection efficiency on superhydrophilic surfaces. To demonstrate this, we measured the condensation rates on different sets of superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces that were cooled below the dew points using a Peltier cooler. Experiments were performed over a wide range of degrees of subcooling (10-26 °C) and humidity-ratio differences (5-45 g/kg of dry air). Depending upon the thermodynamic parameters, the condensation rate is found to be 57-333% higher on the superhydrophilic surfaces compared to the superhydrophobic ones. The findings of the study dispel ambiguity about the preferred mode of vapor condensation from humid air on wettability-engineered surfaces and lead to the design of efficient atmospheric water harvesting systems.

Silicone Oil-Grafted Low-Hysteresis Water-Repellent Surfaces

Wetting plays a major role in the close interactions between liquids and solid surfaces, which can be tailored by modifying the chemistry as well as the structures of the surfaces' outermost layer. Several methodologies, such as chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, electroplating, and chemical reactions, among others, have been adopted for the alteration/modification of such interactions suitable for various applications. However, the fabrication of low-contact line-pinning hydrophobic surfaces via simple and easy methods remains an open challenge. In this work, we exploit one-step and multiple-step silicone oil (5-100 cSt) grafting on smooth silicon substrates (although the technique is suitable for other substrates), looking closely at the effect of viscosity as well as the volume and layers (one to five) of oil grafted as a function of the deposition method. Remarkably, the optimization of grafting of silicone oil fabrication results in non-wetting surfaces with extremely low contact angle hysteresis (CAH) below 1° and high contact angles (CAs) of ∼108° after a single grafting step, which is an order of magnitude smaller than the reported values of previous works on silicone oil-grafted surfaces. Moreover, the different droplet-surface interactions and pinning behavior can additionally be tailored to the specific application with CAH ranging from 1 to 20° and sliding angles between 1.5 and 60° (for droplet volumes of 3 μL), depending on the fabrication parameters adopted. In terms of roughness, all the samples (independent of the grafting parameters) showed small changes in the root-mean-square roughness below 20 nm. Lastly, stability analysis of the grafting method reported here under various conditions shows that the coating is quite stable under mechanical vibrations (bath ultrasonication) and in a chemical environment (ultrasonication in a bath of ethanol) but loses its low-pinning characteristics when exposed to saturated steam at T ∼ 99 °C. The findings presented here provide a basis for selecting the most appropriate and suitable method and parameters for silicone oil grafting aimed at low pinning and low hysteresis surfaces for specific applications.

"Anti-Condensation" Aluminum Superhydrophobic Surface by Smaller Nanostructures

According to classical heterogeneous nucleation theory, the free energy barrier (ΔGc) of heterogeneous nucleation of vapor condensation ascends dramatically as the substrate nanostructure diameter (Rs) decreases. Based on this idea, we fabricated two types of superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) on an aluminum substrate by different roughening processes and the same fluorization treatment. Water vapor condensation trials by optical microscope and ESEM confirmed that on SHSs with submicron rectangle structures, a typical self-propelled motion of condensates or jumping condensation occurred. However, on SHS with coral-like micro/nano-structures, vapor nucleation occurred tardily, randomly, and sparsely, and the subsequent condensation preferentially occurred on the nuclei formed earlier, e.g., the condensation on such SHS typically followed the Matthew effect. Higher vapor-liquid nucleation energy barrier caused by smaller fluorinated nanostructures should be responsible for such a unique "anti-condensation" property. This study would be helpful in designing new SHSs and moving their application in anti-icing, anti-fogging, air humidity control, and so on.

Recent advances in bioinspired superhydrophobic ice-proof surfaces: challenges and prospects

Bionic superhydrophobic ice-proof surfaces inspired by natural biology show great potential in daily life. They have attracted wide research interest due to their promising and wide applications in offshore equipment, transportation, power transmission, communication, energy, etc. The flourishing development of superhydrophobic ice-proof surfaces has been witnessed due to the availability of various fabrication methods. These surfaces can effectively inhibit the accumulation of ice, thereby ensuring the safety of human life and property. This review highlights the latest advances in bio-inspired superhydrophobic ice-proof materials. Firstly, several familiar cold-resistant creatures with well-organized texture structures are listed briefly, which provide an excellent template for the design of bioinspired ice-proof surfaces. Next, the advantages and disadvantages of the current techniques for the preparation of superhydrophobic ice-proof surfaces are also analyzed in depth. Subsequently, the theoretical knowledge on icing formation and three passive ice-proof strategies are introduced in detail. Afterward, the recent progress in improving the durability of ice-proof surfaces is emphasized. Finally, the remaining challenges and promising breakthroughs in this field are briefly discussed.

A Lipid-Inspired Highly Adhesive Interface for Durable Superhydrophobicity in Wet Environments and Stable Jumping Droplet Condensation

Creating thin (<100 nm) hydrophobic coatings that are durable in wet conditions remains challenging. Although the dropwise condensation of steam on thin hydrophobic coatings can enhance condensation heat transfer by 1000%, these coatings easily delaminate. Designing interfaces with high adhesion while maintaining a nanoscale coating thickness is key to overcoming this challenge. In nature, cell membranes face this same challenge where nanometer-thick lipid bilayers achieve high adhesion in wet environments to maintain integrity. Nature ensures this adhesion by forming a lipid interface having two nonpolar surfaces, demonstrating high physicochemical resistance to biofluids attempting to open the interface. Here, developing an artificial lipid-like interface that utilizes fluorine-carbon molecular chains can achieve durable nanometric hydrophobic coatings. The application of our approach to create a superhydrophobic material shows high stability during jumping-droplet-enhanced condensation as quantified from a continual one-year steam condensation experiment. The jumping-droplet condensation enhanced condensation heat transfer coefficient up to 400% on tube samples when compared to filmwise condensation on bare copper. Our bioinspired materials design principle can be followed to develop many durable hydrophobic surfaces using alternate substrate-coating pairs, providing stable hydrophobicity or superhydrophobicity to a plethora of applications.

The apparent surface free energy of rare earth oxides is governed by hydrocarbon adsorption

The surface free energy of rare earth oxides (REOs) has been debated during the last decade, with some reporting REOs to be intrinsically hydrophilic and others reporting hydrophobic. Here, we investigate the wettability and surface chemistry of pristine and smooth REO surfaces, conclusively showing that hydrophobicity stems from wettability transition due to volatile organic compound adsorption. We show that, for indoor ambient atmospheres and well-controlled saturated hydrocarbon atmospheres, the apparent advancing and receding contact angles of water increase with exposure time. We examined the surfaces comprehensively with multiple surface analysis techniques to confirm hydrocarbon adsorption and correlate it to wettability transition mechanisms. We demonstrate that both physisorption and chemisorption occur on the surface, with chemisorbed hydrocarbons promoting further physisorption due to their high affinity with similar hydrocarbon molecules. This study offers a better understanding of the intrinsic wettability of REOs and provides design guidelines for REO-based durable hydrophobic coatings.

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REOs are intrinsically hydrophilic but become hydrophobic as they adsorb hydrocarbons

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Our results demonstrate that both physisorption and chemisorption occur on the surface

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The adsorption of hydrocarbons was confirmed by multiple surface chemistry analysis

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Our work offers a better fundamental understanding of the intrinsic wettability of REO

Condensation of Humid Air on Superhydrophobic Surfaces: Effect of Nanocoatings on a Hierarchical Interface

Vapor condensation is a well-known phase-change phenomenon observed in nature as well as in different industrial applications. Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) with low hysteresis can efficiently drain off the condensate and rejuvenate the nucleation sites further. In this work, three distinct SHSs were fabricated by nanocoating three hydrophobic agents, viz., perfluoro-octyl-triethoxy-silane (PFOTS), perfluoro-octanoic-acid (PFOA), and commercial Glaco solution on a hierarchical aluminum surface. The surface morphology of all surfaces was investigated, and its effects on the wetting, droplet departure, and overall heat-transfer coefficient (HTC) during condensation phenomena in the humid air (>95% noncondensable gases) were analyzed. The contact angle hysteresis of all three surfaces was very low (∼5°); however, different wetting behaviors were observed during the condensation, depending on the adhesion of the condensate drop with nanoscale textures in the microcavities. Dropwise condensation (DWC) was observed in silane and Glaco-coated surfaces. A gravity-assisted sweeping mechanism removed the condensate from the silane-coated surface. In contrast, the condensate was ejected out of the plane of the Glaco-coated surface by droplet jumping. The PFOA-coated surface has shown DWC initially and floods in the later stages due to highly pinned condensed droplets. This study reports an enhancement of ∼35 to ∼110% in the HTC for the SHS-exhibiting gravity-assisted sweeping mechanism compared to the droplet-jumping mechanism. The present work will provide substantial insights into the fabrication of efficient hierarchical interfaces for water-energy nexus applications.

Lubricant-Infused Three-Dimensional Frame Composed of a Micro/Nanospinous Ball Cluster Structure with Salient Durability and Superior Fog Harvesting Capacity

Due to the limitation of the special wettability surface in the water collection field, the smooth surface injected by the lubricant has attracted wide attention. In this study, a simple two-step electrochemical reaction was used to successfully design a micro/nanospinous ball cluster structure on the surface of a frame. Subsequently, after low-surface-energy treatment and lubricant immersion, a lubricant-infused three-dimensional frame is prepared. The three-dimensional grid system of the frame and the micro/nanospinous ball cluster structure on the surface exert synergistic capillary force, which helps to maintain a stable lubricant-infused smooth surface. This interface system, which exhibits superior water collection efficiency, can achieve efficient droplet capture, coagulation, and removal. The prepared lubricant-infused frame also has remarkable corrosion resistance and anti-icing performance. After high-shear rate rotation and long-term storage, it still maintains a stable and smooth surface. The reported lubricant-infused three-dimensional frame has great potential in water condensation, droplet transport, and phase-to-heat transition.

Dropwise condensation: From fundamentals of wetting, nucleation, and droplet mobility to performance improvement by advanced functional surfaces

As a ubiquitous vapor-liquid phase-change process, dropwise condensation has attracted tremendous research attention owing to its remarkable efficiency of energy transfer and transformative industrial potential. In recent years, advanced functional surfaces, profiting from great progress in modifying micro/nanoscale features and surface chemistry on surfaces, have led to exciting advances in both heat transfer enhancement and fundamental understanding of dropwise condensation. In this review, we discuss the development of some key components for achieving performance improvement of dropwise condensation, including surface wettability, nucleation, droplet mobility, and growth, and discuss how they can be elaborately controlled as desired using surface design. We also present an overview of dropwise condensation heat transfer enhancement on advanced functional surfaces along with the underlying mechanisms, such as jumping condensation on nanostructured superhydrophobic surfaces, and new condensation characteristics (e.g., Laplace pressure-driven droplet motion, hierarchical condensation, and sucking flow condensation) on hierarchically structured surfaces. Finally, the durability, cost, and scalability of specific functional surfaces are focused on for future industrial applications. The existing challenges, alternative strategies, as well as future perspectives, are essential in the fundamental and applied aspects for the practical implementation of dropwise condensation.

Recent advances in biomimetic surfaces inspired by creatures for fog harvesting

In this review, the recent advances in artificial surfaces for fog harvesting are introduced with emphasis on the surfaces and their mechanisms used to enhance water capture and transportation, providing prospects for coping with water shortages.

Droplet Growth Model for Dropwise Condensation on Concave Hydrophobic Surfaces

In this paper, mathematical models for predicting the droplet growth and droplet distribution of dropwise condensation on hydrophobic concave surface are developed and a theoretical analysis of the results of the model simulation is made. Under the assumptions of the Cassie-Baxter wetting mode and the consideration of noncondensable gases, the droplet growth model is not only established by heat transfer through a single droplet but also considered the thermal conductive resistance of the surface promoting layer. In addition, a droplet distribution model has been built based on the population balance theory. According to the calculation, the main thermal resistance in the droplet growth process is the conductive resistance inside the droplet. With the increase of contact angle, the above-mentioned thermal resistance increases; thus, the higher the hydrophobicity is, the slower the droplet growth and the less the droplet density are. Besides, the lower the temperature of the condensing surface is, the faster the droplets grow and the less the droplet density is. The models provide a mathematical tool for predicting the droplet radius at the initial stage of dewing on the concave surface and contribute to the design of functional surfaces in the field of water harvesting.

The Effect of Adsorbed Volatile Organic Compounds on an Ultrathin Water Film Measurement

Using surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi), we have recently shown for the first time the existence of a monolayer water film between droplets during dropwise condensation. This study examines the effect of adsorbed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on the ultrathin film measurement using SPRi. Further, the work presents the proper surface-treatment process that enables measurements of the ultrathin water layer during high-speed imaging of dropwise condensation at 3000 frame per second. In this study, two methods were applied for cleaning the surface (gold-coated glass)—(1) standard cleaning procedure (SCP) using acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and deionized water and (2) SCP followed by air plasma cleaning. This work discusses the effect of the cleaning procedures on surface roughness, contact angle, and surface chemistry using atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy, and an X-ray photoelectron spectroscope meter. The results showed that SCP before the SPRi is a proper surface-treatment method. The effect of adsorbed VOCs during dropwise condensation on a surface treated with SCP was measured to be 0.0025 (reflectivity unit), which was 70% smaller than the reflectance associated with a monolayer water film. The results of this work confirm a monolayer water film observation during the dropwise condensation, which has been reported before.

Phase-Change Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces with Thermo-Responsive Wetting and Shedding States

Slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPSs) prepared with phase invariant materials (e.g., Krytox GPL oil) have been increasingly researched as low-adhesion engineered functional surfaces in the last decade. However, phase change materials (PCMs) have been scarcely adopted, although they are potential candidates because of their inherent lubricant characteristics as well as temperature-dependent phases empowering unique thermo-responsive switchable wettability. Here, paraffin wax (an organic PCM) has been applied on a hydrophobized nanoporous copper substrate to realize the phase-change SLIPSs (PC-SLIPSs) fabricated via spin-coating followed by thermal annealing, which overcomes earlier limitations encountered on the PC-SLIPSs. Advantages of these PC-SLIPSs are the prompting of a low-adhesion Wenzel state as opposed to the earlier completely pinned Wenzel state in the solid phase and the optimized slippery state without excess of PCM in the liquid phase. Further, in order to characterize the intimate interactions between liquid droplets and the different phases of the PC-SLIPSs, that is, solid, mush, and liquid phases, the contact line dynamics have been comprehensively investigated, unveiling the water droplet adhesion and depinning phenomenon as the function of the thermo-responsive wetting states. Lastly, the PC-SLIPSs have also been tested for water vapor condensation, demonstrating the feasibility of dropwise condensation and the shift of the droplet size distribution in both the solid and liquid phases. The results suggest that such engineered surfaces have great potential to prompt and tune dropwise condensation via thermo-responsive switchable wettability for heat transfer and water harvesting applications.

Spontaneous dewetting transition of nanodroplets on nanopillared surface

The spontaneous dewetting transition (SDT) of nanoscale droplets on the nanopillared surface is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Three typical SDT modes, i.e. condensing, merging and coalescing with flying droplets are observed, and the underlying physical mechanism is clearly revealed by the potential energy analysis of droplets. We find that there exists a dimensionless parameter of the relative critical volume of droplet C _cri which completely controls the SDT of nanodroplets. Furthermore, the C _cri remains constant for geometrically similar surfaces, which indicates an intrinsic similarity of nanoscale SDT. The effect of pillar height, diameter and spacing on SDT has also been studied and it is likely to occur on the surface with longer, wider and thicker pillars, as well as pillars with cone-like shape and larger hydrophobicity. These results should be useful for a complete understanding of the nanoscale SDT and shed light on the design of smart superhydrophobic surfaces.

Density Maximization of One-Step Electrodeposited Copper Nanocones and Dropwise Condensation Heat-Transfer Performance Evaluation

Currently, it is still a great challenge to obtain copper-based high-efficient dropwise condensation heat transfer (CHT) interfaces via template-free electrodepositing technologies. Here, we report that the density of template-free electrodeposited copper nanocones can maximally reach 1.5 × 10⁶/mm² by the synergistic control of substrate surface roughness, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecular weight, and PEG concentration. After thiol modification, the densely packed copper nanocone samples can present low-adhesive superhydrophobicity and condensate microdrop self-jumping function at ambient environment. Condensation heat and mass transfer characterizations show that the CHT coefficient of copper surfaces can maximally enhance 98% for 20 °C vapor and 51% for 40 °C vapor by in situ growth of superhydrophobic densely packed copper nanocones. Although the dropwise condensation mode can change from the jumping mode to the mixed jumping and sweeping mode and the shedding-off mode along with the increase of surface subcooling and vapor temperature, the CHT performance of the nanosample is still superior to that of the contrast flat hydrophobic surface during the whole testing range of surface subcooling. As vapor temperature increases to 80 °C, the CHT performance of the nanosample is inferior to that of the contrast sample. The CHT enhancement under low-temperature vapor should be ascribed to the enhancement of small-drop mass transfer ability caused by low-adhesive superhydrophobicity nature of nanosample surfaces. Their performance degradation mainly results from increased drop-drop drag force along with the increase of surface subcooling and vapor temperature. In sharp contrast, the CHT deterioration under high-temperature vapor should be ascribed to larger drop-surface adhesion and drop-drop drag force. The former is caused by vapor penetration, whereas the latter is caused by the dramatically increased nucleation density and growth rate of condensates. These findings would help design and develop copper-based high-efficiency condensation heat transfer interfaces.

A fog-collecting surface mimicking the Namib beetle: its water collection efficiency and influencing factors

Shortage of water resources and deterioration of water quality are becoming more and more serious today. Inspired by Namib Desert beetles, scientists designed biomimetic fog collection materials to obtain fresh water. The overview of this field is limited and mainly concerned with the preparation and application. In this paper, we focused on the water collection efficiency of surfaces inspired by beetles and discussed their influence on the water collection efficiency from three aspects: surface wettability, surface structure and surface pattern distribution.

Thermal Activation of Electrochemical Seed Surfaces for Selective and Tunable Hydrophobic Patterning

Remarkable interfacial behaviors are observed in nature. Our efforts, directed toward replicating the structures, chemistries, and therefore functional properties of natural nonwetting surfaces, are competing with the result of billions of years of natural selection. The application of man-made surfaces is challenged by their poor longevity in aggressive environmental or applied service conditions. This study reports on a new approach for the creation of multiscale hierarchical surface patterns in metals, which exploits thermodynamic phenomena in advanced manufacturing processes. While hydrophobic coatings can be produced with relative ease by electrodeposition, these fractal-type structures tend to have poor structural integrity and hence are not durable. In this method, "seed surfaces" are directly written onto substrates by selective electrodeposition, after which they are irradiated by a large-area, pulsed electron beam to invoke a beading phenomenon, which is studied here. The length scale of these beads is shown to depend upon the melt time of the liquid metal. The created surfaces are shown to yield high water contact angles (145°) without subsequent chemical modification, and high adhesion properties reminiscent of the "rose petal" hydrophobic effect. The size and morphology and hence the hydrophobic effect of the surface beads generated are correlated with the thickness of the electrodeposited coating and hence the melt lifetime upon electron irradiation. This new rapid approach for tunable hydrophobic surface creation has applications for developing precision hydrophobic patterns and is insensitive to surface complexity.

Wetting characteristics of Colocasia esculenta (Taro) leaf and a bioinspired surface thereof

We investigate wetting and water repellency characteristics of Colocasia esculenta (taro) leaf and an engineered surface, bioinspired by the morphology of the surface of the leaf. Scanning electron microscopic images of the leaf surface reveal a two-tier honeycomb-like microstructures, as compared to previously-reported two-tier micropillars on a Nelumbo nucifera (lotus) leaf. We measured static, advancing, and receding angle on the taro leaf and these values are around 10% lesser than those for the lotus leaf. Using standard photolithography techniques, we manufactured bioinspired surfaces with hexagonal cavities of different sizes. The ratio of inner to the outer radius of the circumscribed circle to the hexagon (b/a) was varied. We found that the measured static contact angle on the bioinspired surface varies with b/a and this variation is consistent with a free-energy based model for a droplet in Cassie-Baxter state. The static contact angle on the bioinspired surface is closer to that for the leaf for b/a ≈ 1. However, the contact angle hysteresis is much larger on these surfaces as compared to that on the leaf and the droplet sticks to the surfaces. We explain this behavior using a first-order model based on force balance on the contact line. Finally, the droplet impact dynamics was recorded on the leaf and different bioinspired surfaces. The droplets bounce on the leaf beyond a critical Weber number (We ~  1.1), exhibiting remarkable water-repellency characteristics. However, the droplet sticks to the bioinspired surfaces in all cases of We. At larger We, we recorded droplet breakup on the surface with larger b/a and droplet assumes full or partial Wenzel state. The breakup is found to be a function of We and b/a and the measured angles in full Wenzel state are closer to the predictions of the free-energy based model. The sticky bioinspired surfaces are potentially useful in applications such as water-harvesting.

Dependences of Formation and Transition of the Surface Condensation Mode on Wettability and Temperature Difference

In this work, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the dependences of formation and transition of surface condensation mode on wettability (β) and vapor-to-surface temperature difference (ΔT). We build a map of different surface condensation modes against β and ΔT based on plenty of MD simulation results and reveal five formation mechanisms and two transition mechanisms. At low β and ΔT, the high free energy barrier (ΔG*) prevents any surface clusters from surviving, therefore no-condensation (NC) is observed. The formation of dropwise condensation (DWC) could evolve from either nucleation or film rupture. Similarly, the formation of filmwise condensation (FWC) could evolve from either nucleation or the adsorption-induced film. The transition between NC and DWC is determined by ΔG* according to classical nucleation theory. The transition between DWC and FWC depends on the stability of condensate film; there emerges the competition between the trend that the uneven condensate film contracts and ruptures to droplets favored by lower β and the trend that the uneven condensate film continues growing promoted by higher ΔT. We finally present a schematic overview of all of the mechanisms revealed for a better understanding of the physical phenomenon of the surface condensation mode.

Fiber-Based Composite Meshes with Controlled Mechanical and Wetting Properties for Water Harvesting

Water is the basis of life in the world. Unfortunately, resources are shrinking at an alarming rate. The lack of access to water is still the biggest problem in the modern world. The key to solving it is to find new unconventional ways to obtain water from alternative sources. Fog collectors are becoming an increasingly important way of water harvesting as there are places in the world where fog is the only source of water. Our aim is to apply electrospun fiber technology, due to its high surface area, to increase fog collection efficiency. Therefore, composites consisting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic fibers were successfully fabricated using a two-nozzle electrospinning setup. This design enables the realization of optimal meshes for harvesting water from fog. In our studies we focused on combining hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) and hydrophilic polyamide 6 (PA6), surface properties in the produced meshes, without any chemical modifications, on the basis of new hierarchical composites for collecting water. This combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials causes water to condense on the hydrophobic microfibers and to run down on the hydrophilic nanofibers. By adjusting the fraction of PA6 nanofibers, we were able to tune the mechanical properties of PS meshes and importantly increase the efficiency in collecting water. We combined a few characterization methods together with novel image processing protocols for the analysis of fiber fractions in the constructed meshes. The obtained results show a new single-step method to produce meshes with enhanced mechanical properties and water collecting abilities that can be applied in existing fog water collectors. This is a new promising design for fog collectors with nano- and macrofibers which are able to efficiently harvest water, showing great application in comparison to commercially available standard meshes.

Large-scale efficient water harvesting using bioinspired micro-patterned copper oxide nanoneedle surfaces and guided droplet transport

As the Earth's atmosphere contains an abundant amount of water as vapors, a device which can capture a fraction of this water could be a cost-effective and practical way of solving the water crisis. There are many biological surfaces found in nature which display unique wettability due to the presence of hierarchical micro-nanostructures and play a major role in water deposition. Inspired by these biological microstructures, we present a large scale, facile and cost-effective method to fabricate water-harvesting functional surfaces consisting of high-density copper oxide nanoneedles. A controlled chemical oxidation approach on copper surfaces was employed to fabricate nanoneedles with controlled morphology, assisted by bisulfate ion adsorption on the surface. The fabricated surfaces with nanoneedles displayed high wettability and excellent fog harvesting capability. Furthermore, when the fabricated nanoneedles were subjected to hydrophobic coating, these were able to rapidly generate and shed coalesced droplets leading to further increase in fog harvesting efficiency. Overall, ∼99% and ∼150% increase in fog harvesting efficiency was achieved with non-coated and hydrophobic layer coated copper oxide nanoneedle surfaces respectively when compared to the control surfaces. As the transport of the harvested water is very important in any fog collection system, hydrophilic channels inspired by leaf veins were made on the surfaces via a milling technique which allowed an effective and sustainable way to transport the captured water and further enhanced the water collection efficiency by ∼9%. The system presented in this study can provide valuable insights towards the design and fabrication of fog harvesting systems, adaptable to arid or semi-arid environmental conditions.