Acoustothermal Atomization of Water Nanofilms

R Pillai and MK Borg and JM Reese, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 121, 104502 (2018).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.104502

We report nonequilibrium molecular simulations of the vibration-induced heating of nanoscale-thick water layers on a metal substrate. In addition to experimentally confirmed acoustothermal evaporation, we observe hitherto unmapped nucleate and film boiling regimes, accompanied by the generation of unprecedented heat fluxessimilar to O(10(9)) W/m(2). We develop a universal scaling parameter to classify the heat- transfer regimes and to predict the thickness of the residual nonevaporating liquid layer. The results find broad application to systems involving drying, coatings, and sprays.

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