{"id":1305,"date":"2013-07-25T18:26:59","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T18:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtlsites.mit.edu\/annual_reports\/2013\/?p=1305"},"modified":"2013-08-30T15:03:13","modified_gmt":"2013-08-30T15:03:13","slug":"lubricant-impregnated-nanotextured-surfaces-for-efficient-heat-transfer-during-condensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mtlsites.mit.edu\/annual_reports\/2013\/lubricant-impregnated-nanotextured-surfaces-for-efficient-heat-transfer-during-condensation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lubricant-Impregnated Nanotextured Surfaces for Efficient Heat Transfer during Condensation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Despite years of advancement in making energy systems more efficient, the predominant mode of condensation seen in large-scale industrial processes is still filmwise condensation. Replacing the filmwise condensation mode with dropwise condensation promises large improvements in heat transfer efficiency that will reduce the cost in material, water consumption, and size of the systems. In this regard, the use of superhydrophobic surfaces fabricated by texturing surfaces with nano\/microstructures has been shown to lead decreases in contact line pinning of millimetric drops, resulting in fast shedding. However, these useful properties are lost during condensation as droplets that nucleate within the texture grow larger by virtue of condensation while still adhering to the surface. This Wenzel pinning can, however, be eliminated by introduction of a lubricant[1<\/a>]<\/sup>[2<\/a>]<\/sup>[3<\/a>]<\/sup>[4<\/a>]<\/sup>. Recently we have shown that liquid-impregnated surfaces can overcome many limitations of conventional superhydrophobic surfaces during condensation[5<\/a>]<\/sup>.\u00a0 Here we show aspects related to condensation on liquid surfaces and how relations among the surface tension of the encapsulating liquid and the condensing liquid determine the condensation and subsequent shedding behavior for condensing droplets (Figure 1). The characteristics of condensed droplet behavior on these surfaces are compared with that on conventional un-impregnated superhydrophobic surfaces (Figure 2) to show how the use of lubricant impregnated surfaces may lead to large enhancement in heat transfer and energy efficiencies\u00a0((Anand, S.; Paxson, A. T.; Dhiman, R.; Smith, J. D.; Varanasi, K. K., Enhanced Condensation on Lubricant-Impregnated Nanotextured Surfaces. ACS Nano <\/i>2012,<\/b> 6, (11), pp. 10122-10129.)).<\/p>\n\n\t\t