The influence of cone structure and wettability on vaporization nucleation

XJ Li and PJ Ming and GP Yu and YL Chen and ZC Tan and Y Ma, JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS, 390, 123080 (2023).

DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2023.123080

Surface wettability and surface structure are critical factors that affect vaporization nucleation. However, their coupling effects on nucleation have yet to be thoroughly studied. This study employs molecular dynamics (MD) techniques to investigate the impact of nanostructures and walls with varying wettability on vaporization nucleation. Theoretical analysis verification demonstrate that increasing the hydrophobic ratio of the hybrid wall or adding a cone structure to the wall reduces the vaporization nucleation time. Previous studies did not separate the "surface area" and "cone height" factors when examining the relationship between cone surface structure and boiling. In this work, we analyzed the factors that affect vaporization nucleation. We found that increased surface area shortens nucleation time, and when the surface area is the same, higher cone heights lead to shorter nucleation times. Additionally, we examined the coupling effect of surface structure and wettability on nucleation. The results indicate that an increased proportion of hydrophobic walls with identical surface structures enhances the likelihood of nucleation. Furthermore, hydrophilic wallhydrophobic cones with the same hydrophilic-hydrophobic ratio are more prone to nucleation than hydrophobic wall-hydrophilic cones. These findings provide insights into the design of nanostructures to enhance heat transfer involving boiling.

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