Condensation droplet sieve

Chen Ma (), Li Chen, Lin Wang, Wei Tong, Chenlei Chu, Zhiping Yuan (), Cunjing Lv () and Quanshui Zheng ()
Additional contact information
Chen Ma: Tsinghua University
Li Chen: Tsinghua University
Lin Wang: Tsinghua University
Wei Tong: Tsinghua University
Chenlei Chu: Tsinghua University
Zhiping Yuan: Tsinghua University
Cunjing Lv: Tsinghua University
Quanshui Zheng: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Large droplets emerging during dropwise condensation impair surface properties such as anti-fogging/frosting ability and heat transfer efficiency. How to spontaneously detach massive randomly distributed droplets with controlled sizes has remained a challenge. Herein, we present a solution called condensation droplet sieve, through fabricating microscale thin-walled lattice structures coated with a superhydrophobic layer. Growing droplets were observed to jump off this surface once becoming slightly larger than the lattices. The maximum radius and residual volume of droplets were strictly confined to 16 μm and 3.2 nl/mm2 respectively. We reveal that this droplet radius cut off is attributed to the large tolerance of coalescence mismatch for jumping and effective isolation of droplets between neighboring lattices. Our work brings forth a strategy for the design and fabrication of high-performance anti-dew materials.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32873-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32873-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32873-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().