Susmita Dash

Droplet Evaporation Dynamics on a Superhydrophobic Surface with Negligible Hysteresis

We report on experiments of droplet evaporation on a structured superhydrophobic surface that displays very high contact angle (CA ∼ 160 deg), and negligible contact angle hysteresis (<1 deg). The droplet evaporation is observed to occur in a constant-contact-angle mode, with contact radius shrinking for almost the entire duration of evaporation. Experiments conducted on Teflon-coated smooth surface (CA ∼ 120 deg) as a baseline also support an evaporation process that is dominated by a constant-contact-angle mode. The experimental results are compared with an isothermal diffusion model for droplet evaporation from the literature. Good agreement is observed for the Teflon-coated smooth surface between the analytical expression and experimental results in terms of the total time for evaporation, transient volume, contact angle, and contact radius. However, for the structured superhydrophobic surface, the experiments indicate that the time taken for complete evaporation of the droplet is greater than the predicted time, across all droplet volumes. This disparity is attributed primarily to the evaporative cooling at the droplet interface due to the high aspect ratio of the droplet and also the lower effective thermal conductivity of the substrate due to the presence of air gaps. This hypothesis is verified by numerically evaluating the temperature distribution along the droplet interface. We propose a generalized relation for predicting the instantaneous volume of droplets with initial CA > 90 deg, irrespective of the mode of evaporation.

Hybrid Surface Design for Robust Superhydrophobicity

Surfaces may be rendered superhydrophobic by engineering the surface morphology to control the extent of the liquid-air interface and by the use of low-surface-energy coatings. The droplet state on a superhydrophobic surface under static and dynamic conditions may be explained in terms of the relative magnitudes of the wetting and antiwetting pressures acting at the liquid-air interface on the substrate. In this paper, we discuss the design and fabrication of hollow hybrid superhydrophobic surfaces which incorporate both communicating and noncommunicating air gaps. The surface design is analytically shown to exhibit higher capillary (or nonwetting) pressure compared to solid pillars with only communicating air gaps. Six hybrid surfaces are fabricated with different surface parameters selected such that the Cassie state of a droplet is energetically favorable. The robustness of the surfaces is tested under dynamic impingement conditions, and droplet dynamics are explained using pressure-based transitions between Cassie and Wenzel states. During droplet impingement, the effective water hammer pressure acting due to the sudden change in the velocity of the droplet is determined experimentally and is found to be at least 2 orders of magnitude less than values reported in the literature. The experiments show that the water hammer pressure depends on the surface morphology and capillary pressure of the surface. We propose that the observed reduction in shock pressure may be attributed to the presence of air gaps in the substrate. This feature allows liquid deformation and hence avoids the sudden stoppage of the droplet motion as opposed to droplet behavior on smooth surfaces.

Assessment of Water Droplet Evaporation Mechanisms on Hydrophobic and Superhydrophobic Substrates

Evaporation rates are predicted and important transport mechanisms identified for evaporation of water droplets on hydrophobic (contact angle ~110°) and superhydrophobic (contact angle ~160°) substrates. Analytical models for droplet evaporation in the literature are usually simplified to include only vapor diffusion in the gas domain, and the system is assumed to be isothermal. In the comprehensive model developed in this study, evaporative cooling of the interface is accounted for, and vapor concentration is coupled to local temperature at the interface. Conjugate heat and mass transfer are solved in the solid substrate, liquid droplet, and surrounding gas. Buoyancy-driven convective flows in the droplet and vapor domains are also simulated. The influences of evaporative cooling and convection on the evaporation characteristics are determined quantitatively. The liquid-vapor interface temperature drop induced by evaporative cooling suppresses evaporation, while gas-phase natural convection acts to enhance evaporation. While the effects of these competing transport mechanisms are observed to counterbalance for evaporation on a hydrophobic surface, the stronger influence of evaporative cooling on a superhydrophobic surface accounts for an overprediction of experimental evaporation rates by ~20% with vapor diffusion-based models. The local evaporation fluxes along the liquid-vapor interface for both hydrophobic and superhydrophobic substrates are investigated. The highest local evaporation flux occurs at the three-phase contact line region due to proximity to the higher temperature substrate, rather than at the relatively colder droplet top; vapor diffusion-based models predict the opposite. The numerically calculated evaporation rates agree with experimental results to within 2% for superhydrophobic substrates and 3% for hydrophobic substrates. The large deviations between past analytical models and the experimental data are therefore reconciled with the comprehensive model developed here.

Dynamics of droplet motion under electrowetting actuation

The static shape of droplets under electrowetting actuation is well understood. The steady-state shape of the droplet is obtained on the basis of the balance of surface tension and electrowetting forces, and the change in the apparent contact angle is well characterized by the Young-Lippmann equation. However, the transient droplet shape behavior when a voltage is suddenly applied across a droplet has received less attention. Additional dynamic frictional forces are at play during this transient process. We present a model to predict this transient behavior of the droplet shape under electrowetting actuation. The droplet shape is modeled using the volume of fluid method. The electrowetting and dynamic frictional forces are included as an effective dynamic contact angle through a force balance at the contact line. The model is used to predict the transient behavior of water droplets on smooth hydrophobic surfaces under electrowetting actuation. The predictions of the transient behavior of droplet shape and contact radius are in excellent agreement with our experimental measurements. The internal fluid motion is explained, and the droplet motion is shown to initiate from the contact line. An approximate mathematical model is also developed to understand the physics of the droplet motion and to describe the overall droplet motion and the contact line velocities.

Effect of Superhydrophobic Surface Morphology on Evaporative Deposition Patterns

Prediction and active control of the spatial distribution of particulate deposits obtained from sessile droplet evaporation are vital in printing, nanostructure assembly, biotechnology, and other applications that require localized deposits. This Letter presents surface wettability-based localization of evaporation-driven particulate deposition and the effect of superhydrophobic surface morphology on the distribution of deposits. Sessile water droplets containing suspended latex particles are evaporated on non-wetting textured surfaces with varying microstructure geometry at ambient conditions. The droplets are visualized throughout the evaporation process to track the temporal evolution of contact radius and apparent contact angle. The resulting particle deposits on the substrates are quantitatively characterized. The experimental results show that superhydrophobic surfaces suppress contact-line deposition during droplet evaporation, thereby providing an effective means of localizing the deposition of su...

Characterization of ultrahydrophobic hierarchical surfaces fabricated using a single-step fabrication methodology

Hydrophobic surfaces with microscale roughness can be rendered ultrahydrophobic by the addition of sub-micron-scale roughness. A simple yet highly effective concept of fabricating hierarchical structured surfaces using a single-step deep reactive ion etch process is proposed. Using this method the complexities generally associated with the fabrication of two-tier roughness structures are eliminated. Three two-tier roughness surfaces with different roughness parameters are fabricated and tested. The surfaces are characterized in terms of the static contact angle and roll-off angle, and are compared with surfaces consisting of only single-tier microscale roughness. The evaporation characteristics of a sessile droplet on the hierarchical surfaces is also assessed relative to comparable single-roughness (SR) surfaces. The robustness of the new hierarchical roughness surfaces is verified through droplet impingement tests. The hierarchical surfaces exhibit very high contact angle and lower contact angle hysteresis compared to the SR surfaces and are more resistant to wetting. The energy loss during impact on the surfaces is quantified in terms of the coefficient of restitution for droplets bouncing off the surface.

Marangoni Convection in Evaporating Organic Liquid Droplets on a Nonwetting Substrate

We quantitatively characterize the flow field inside organic liquid droplets evaporating on a nonwetting substrate. A mushroom-structured surface yields the desired nonwetting behavior with methanol droplets, while use of a cooled substrate (5-15 °C) slows the rate of evaporation to allow quasi-static particle image velocimetry. Visualization reveals a toroidal vortex within the droplet that is characteristic of surface tension-driven flow; we demonstrate by means of a scaling analysis that this recirculating flow is Marangoni convection. The velocities in the droplet are on the order of 10-45 mm/s. Thus, unlike in the case of evaporation on wetting substrates where Marangoni convection can be ignored for the purpose of estimating the evaporation rate, advection due to the surface tension-driven flow plays a dominant role in the heat transfer within an evaporating droplet on a nonwetting substrate because of the large height-to-radius aspect ratio of the droplet. We formulate a reduced-order model that includes advective transport within the droplet for prediction of organic liquid droplet evaporation on a nonwetting substrate and confirm that the predicted temperature differential across the height of the droplet matches experiments.

Photothermal trap utilizing solar illumination for ice mitigation

We have developed a scalable, efficient photothermal trap for deicing by localized light absorption and heat spreading at the ice-substrate interface. Ice buildup is an operational and safety hazard in wind turbines, power lines, and airplanes. Traditional deicing methods, including mechanical and chemical means, are energy-intensive or environmentally unfriendly. Superhydrophobic anti-icing surfaces, while promising, can become ineffective due to frost formation within textures. We report on a “photothermal trap”—a laminate applied to a base substrate—that can efficiently deice by converting solar illumination to heat at the ice-substrate interface. It relies on the complementing properties of three layers: a selective absorber for solar radiation, a thermal spreader for lateral dispersal of heat, and insulation to minimize transverse heat loss. Upon illumination, thermal confinement at the heat spreader leads to rapid increase of the surface temperature, thereby forming a thin lubricating melt layer that facilitates ice removal. Lateral heat spreading overcomes the unavoidable shadowing of certain areas from direct illumination. We provide a design map that captures the key physics guiding illumination-induced ice removal. We demonstrate the deicing performance of the photothermal trap at very low temperatures, and under frost and snow coverage, via laboratory-scale and outdoor experiments.

Flow Visualization During Droplet Evaporation on Hydrophobic and Superhydrophobic Surfaces

a.2 b.2 C.2 The flow behavior inside an evaporating droplet on a hydrophobic (initial contact angle ~120 deg) and superhydrophobic surface (initial contact angle ~ 150 deg) is studied using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Water droplets (with initial volume ~ 3 μL) are considered with suspended fluorescent polystyrene particles for visualization. An axisymmetric counter-rotating vortex pair is observed in the vertical plane of the droplet as it evaporates on the hydrophobic surface. The flow direction is upwards along the vertical axis of the droplet signifying a buoyancy-induced flow field. A single-directional vortex structure occurs in the droplet evaporating on superhydrophobic surface. An image-correction algorithm based on the ray-tracing technique is employed to correct the distortion caused due to refraction of light at the surface of the droplet, and yield an accurate quantitative estimation of the velocity vectors. Centrally localized deposition of suspended particles observed for droplet evaporation on hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces as opposed to the circumferential deposition seen in the case of hydrophilic surfaces is explained in terms of the observed convection flow characteristics. Flow Visualization During Droplet Evaporation on Hydrophobic and Superhydrophobic Surfaces Susmita Dash, Aditya Chandramohan, and Suresh V. Garimella NSF Cooling Technologies Research Center School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA Center-plane illuminated by laser light sheet

Numerical Study of Water Droplet Evaporation on a Superhydrophobic Surface

A comprehensive numerical model is developed to predict evaporation of a water droplet from an unheated superhydrophobic substrate. Analytical models that only consider vapor diffusion in the gas domain, and assume the system to be isothermal, over-predict the evaporation rates by ∼25% compared to experiments conducted on such surfaces. The current model solves for conjugate heat and mass transfer in the solid substrate, liquid droplet, and surrounding gas. Evaporative cooling of the interface is accounted for, and vapor concentration is coupled to local temperature at the interface. Buoyancy-driven convective flows in the droplet and vapor domains are also simulated. A droplet evaporating in a constant-contact-angle mode with an initial volume of 3 μl and contact angle of 160 deg is considered at an ambient temperature of 21°C and 29% relative humidity, to match conditions of related experiments. The interface cooling effect suppresses the evaporation rate significantly; however, natural convection in the gas and liquid domains has a negligible impact on the evaporation rate. The local evaporation flux along the droplet interface predicted by the model is compared to that predicted by an analytical diffusion-based model. The numerically calculated total evaporation rate agrees with experimental results to within 2%. The large deviations between past analytical models and the experimental data on superhydrophobic surfaces are reconciled.Copyright