Leidenfrost boiling of water droplet

Length scale of Leidenfrost ratchet switches droplet directionality.

Arrays of tilted pillars with characteristic heights spanning from hundreds of nanometers to tens of micrometers were created using wafer level processing and used as Leidenfrost ratchets to control droplet directionality. Dynamic Leidenfrost droplets on the ratchets with nanoscale features were found to move in the direction of the pillar tilt while the opposite directionality was observed on ...

Room temperature water Leidenfrost droplets.

We experimentally investigate the Leidenfrost effect at pressures ranging from 1 to 0.05 atmospheric pressure. As a direct consequence of the Clausius–Clapeyron phase diagram of water, the droplet temperature can be at ambient temperature in a non-sophisticated lab environment. Furthermore, the lifetime of the Leidenfrost droplet is significantly increased in this low pressure environment. The ...

Hole growth dynamics in a two dimensional Leidenfrost droplet

Enhanced Droplet Control by Transition Boiling

A droplet of water on a heated surface can levitate over a film of gas produced by its own evaporation in the Leidenfrost effect. When the surface is prepared with ratchet-like saw-teeth topography, these droplets can self-propel and can even climb uphill. However, the extent to which the droplets can be controlled is limited by the physics of the Leidenfrost effect. Here, we show that transiti...

Asymmetric wettability of nanostructures directs leidenfrost droplets.

Leidenfrost phenomena on nano- and microstructured surfaces are of great importance for increasing control over heat transfer in high power density systems utilizing boiling phenomena. They also provide an elegant means to direct droplet motion in a variety of recently emerging fluidic systems. Here, we report the fabrication and characterization of tilted nanopillar arrays (TNPAs) that exhibit...