Highly porous hydrogels for efficient solar water evaporation.

Solar energy is a plentiful renewable resource on Earth, with versatile applications in both domestic and industrial settings, particularly in solar steam generation (SSG). However, current SSG processes encounter challenges such as low efficiency and the requirement for extremely high concentrations of solar irradiation. Interfacial evaporation technology has emerged as a solution to these issues, offering improved solar performance compared to conventional SSG processes. Nonetheless, its implementation introduces additional complexities and costs to system construction. In this study, we present the development of hydrophilic, three-dimensional network-structured hydrogels with high porosity and swelling ratio using a facile fabrication technique. We systematically varied the mixing ratios of four key ingredients (polyethylene glycol diacrylate, PEGDA; polyethylene glycol methyl-ether acrylate, PEGMA; phosphate-buffered saline, PBS; and 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, PI) to control the mean pore size and swelling ratio of the hydrogel. Additionally, plasmonic gold nanoparticles were incorporated into the hydrogel using a novel methodology to enhance solar light absorption and subsequent evaporation efficiency. The resulting material exhibited a remarkable solar efficiency of 77% and an evaporation rate of 1.6 kg m-2 h-1 under standard solar illumination (one sun), comparable to those of state-of-the-art SSG devices. This high efficiency can be attributed to the synergistic effects of the hydrogel's unique composition and nanoparticle concentration. These findings offer a promising avenue for the development of highly efficient solar-powered evaporation applications.

Quantifying Frictional Drag Reduction Properties of Superhydrophobic Metal Oxide Nanostructures.

We measure the frictional drag-reducing property of various superhydrophobic metal oxide nanostructures by quantifying their effective slip length. Scalable chemical methods tailored to each metal substrate are applied to grow oxide nanostructures on copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), and titanium (Ti), respectively. In particular, three different types of oxide nanostructures are grown on the titanium substrate by changing the chemical composition to investigate the morphological influence on the slip length. Microchannels containing metal oxide nanostructures are fabricated based on the microfluidic sticker method, while the slip length is unambiguously determined by measuring the ratio of the volume flow rate over the superhydrophobic surface to that over the flat surface simultaneously. The slip length is measured to be 6.8 ± 1.4 µm on Cu nanostructures, while it is measured to be 2.5 ± 0.6 µm on Al nanostructures. For Ti nanostructures, the measured slip lengths range from 1 to 2.5 ± 0.5 µm, where they increase proportionally with the structural pitch of the nanostructures, agreeing with the theoretical predictions. We believe that our results will be useful in applying scalable low-cost metal oxide nanostructures to underwater applications by providing their frictional characteristics.

Water penetration dynamics through a Janus mesh during drop impact.

Here, we study the water penetration dynamics through a Janus membrane with opposite wettability, i.e., (super-) hydrophobic on one side and (super-) hydrophilic on the other side, during drop impact. It is demonstrated that the penetration dynamics through the membrane consists of two temporally distinct events: dynamic pressure driven penetration dynamics on a shorter timescale and capillary pressure driven penetration dynamics on a longer timescale. For penetration under dynamic pressure, the threshold velocity for the penetration is dependent on the wettability of the impact side, such that a smaller impact velocity is required for water penetration when a water drop is impinged onto the superhydrophobic side over the superhydrophilic side. We demonstrate that this difference in the penetration dynamics upon drop impact can still be accounted for by the balance between the dynamic pressure and the capillarity pressure after adjusting the relative magnitude of the two contrasting pressures required for the penetration. Meanwhile, it is demonstrated that the penetration dynamics under capillary pressure is governed by the balance between the capillary pressure and the viscous pressure while the penetration mainly proceeds through the penetration area, which is formed during short-time penetration, showing the dynamic coupling between the two penetration dynamics. By elucidating the penetration dynamics on a Janus membrane, we believe that our results can help in designing Janus membranes for various fluidic applications such as oil-water separation, aeration, and water harvesting.

Endowing antifouling properties on metal substrata by creating an artificial barrier layer based on scalable metal oxide nanostructures.

Here, by creating different types of artificial barrier layer against bacterial attachment, anti-biofouling properties were endowed on three metallic surfaces - aluminum, stainless steel and titanium. To each metallic surface, a tailored chemical oxidation process was applied to grow scalable oxide structures with an additional appropriate coating, resulting in three different types of anti-biofouling barrier, a thin water film, an air layer and an oil layer. Fluorescence images of the attached bacteria showed that the water layer improved the anti-biofouling performance up to 8-12 h and the air layer up to 12-24 h, comparable with the lifetime of the air layer. In comparison, the oil layer exhibited the best anti-biofouling performance by suppressing the fouled area by < 10% up to 72 h regardless of the substratum type. The present work provides simple, low-cost, scalable strategies to enhance the anti-biofouling performance of industrially important metallic surfaces. [Formula: see text].

Performance Analysis of Gravity-Driven Oil-Water Separation Using Membranes with Special Wettability.

A membrane with selective wettability to either oil or water has been utilized for highly efficient, environmentally friendly membrane-based oil-water separation. However, a predictive model, which can be used to evaluate the overall separation performance of the membrane, still needs further development. Herein, we investigate three separation performance parameters, that is, separation efficiency, liquid intrusion pressure, and mass flux in particular, as a function of pore geometry and liquid properties using metallic meshes whose surface wettability is modified by scalable spray coating. We show that the prepared membrane exhibits a separation efficiency over 98% below the intrusion pressure, while the intrusion pressure increases with the decrease of pore size of the membrane. Particularly, we develop a semi-empirical model for the mass flux through the membrane. As application examples of our performance analysis, we successfully predict the separation time for one-way and two-way gravity-driven separation of the oil-water mixture, the decrease of the mass flux due to membrane fouling, and the maximum allowable separation capacity of the given membrane. This work can help to design optimal membrane-based oil-water separation systems for actual industrial applications by providing a selection guideline for separation membranes.

Effect of geometrical parameters on rebound of impacting droplets on leaky superhydrophobic meshes.

When a droplet impacts a superhydrophobic sieve, a part of the droplet penetrates through it when the dynamic pressure (ρU2) of the impinging droplet exceeds the breakthrough pressure (γΓ/A). At higher impact velocities, the ejected-jet breaks and separates from the main droplet. The remaining part of the droplet bounces off the surface showing different modes (normal bouncing as a vertically elongated drop or pancake bouncing). In this work, we have studied the effect of different geometrical parameters of superhydrophobic copper meshes on different modes of droplet rebound. We observe three different effects in our study. Firstly, we observe pancake like bouncing, which is attributed to the capillary energy of the rebounding interface formed after the breaking of the ejected-jet. Secondly, we observe leakage of the droplet volume and kinetic energy due to the breaking of the ejected-jet, which leads to reduction in the contact times. Finally, we observe that for flexible meshes, the transition to pancake type bouncing is induced at lower Weber numbers. Flexibility also leads to a reduction in the volume loss from the ejected-jet. This study will be helpful in the design of superhydrophobic meshes for use under impact scenarios.

Anisotropic drop spreading on superhydrophobic grates during drop impact.

We study the influence of geometric anisotropy of micro-grate structures on the spreading dynamics of water drops after impact. It is found that the maximal spreading diameter along the parallel direction to grates becomes larger than that along the transverse direction beyond a certain Weber number, while the extent of such an asymmetric spreading increases with the structural pitch of grates and Weber number. By employing grates covered with nanostructures, we exclude the possible influences coming from the Cassie-to-Wenzel transition and the circumferential contact angle variation on the spreading diameter. Then, based on a simplified energy balance model incorporating slip length, we propose that slip length selectively enhances the spreading diameter along the parallel direction, being responsible for the asymmetric drop spreading. We believe that our work will help better understand the role of microstructures in controlling the drop dynamics during impact, which has relevance to various engineering applications.

Water Penetration through a Superhydrophobic Mesh During a Drop Impact.

When a water drop impacts a mesh having submillimeter pores, a part of the drop penetrates through the mesh if the impact velocity is sufficiently large. Here we show that different surface wettability, i.e., hydrophobicity and superhydrophobicity, leads to different water penetration dynamics on a mesh during drop impact. We show, despite the water repellence of a superhydrophobic surface, that water can penetrate a superhydrophobic mesh more easily (i.e., at a lower impact velocity) over a hydrophobic mesh via a penetration mechanism unique to a superhydrophobic mesh. On a superhydrophobic mesh, the water penetration can occur during the drop recoil stage, which appears at a lower impact velocity than the critical impact velocity for water penetration right upon impact. We propose that this unique water penetration on a superhydrophobic mesh can be attributed to the combination of the hydrodynamic focusing and the momentum transfer from the water drop when it is about to bounce off the surface, at which point the water drop retrieves most of its kinetic energy due to the negligible friction on superhydrophobic surfaces.

Plasmonic-Photonic Interference Coupling in Submicrometer Amorphous TiO2-Ag Nanoarchitectures.

In this study, we report the crystallinity effects of submicrometer titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube (TNT) incorporated with silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity. Furthermore, we demonstrate the SERS behaviors dependent on the plasmonic-photonic interference coupling (P-PIC) in the TNT-AgNP nanoarchitectures. Amorphous TNTs (A-TNTs) are synthesized through a two-step anodization on titanium (Ti) substrate, and crystalline TNTs (C-TNTs) are then prepared by using thermal annealing process at 500 °C in air. After thermally evaporating 20 nm thick Ag on TNTs, we investigate SERS signals according to the crystallinity and P-PIC on our TNT-AgNP nanostructures. (A-TNTs)-AgNP substrates show dramatically enhanced SERS performance as compared to (C-TNTs)-AgNP substrates. We attribute the high enhancement on (A-TNTs)-AgNP substrates with electron confinement at the interface between A-TNTs and AgNPs as due to the high interfacial barrier resistance caused by band edge positions. Moreover, the TNT length variation in (A-TNTs)-AgNP nanostructures results in different constructive or destructive interference patterns, which in turn affects the P-PIC. Finally, we could understand the significant dependency of SERS intensity on P-PIC in (A-TNTs)-AgNP nanostructures. Our results thus might provide a suitable design for a myriad of applications of enhanced EM on plasmonic-integrated devices.

Droplet coalescence on water repellant surfaces.

We report our hydrodynamic and energy analyses of droplet coalescence on water repellent surfaces including hydrophobic, superhydrophobic and oil-infused superhydrophobic surfaces. The receding contact angle has significant effects on the contact line dynamics since the contact line dissipation was more significant during the receding mode than advancing. The contact line dynamics is modeled by the damped harmonic oscillation equation, which shows that the damping ratio and angular frequency of merged droplets decrease as the receding contact angle increases. The fast contact line relaxation and the resulting decrease in base area during coalescence were crucial to enhance the mobility of coalescing sessile droplets by releasing more surface energy with reducing dissipation loss. The superhydrophobic surface converts ∼42% of the released surface energy to the kinetic energy via coalescence before the merged droplet jumps away from the surface, while oil-infused superhydrophobic and hydrophobic surfaces convert ∼30% and ∼22%, respectively, for the corresponding time. This work clarifies the mechanisms of the contact line relaxation and energy conversion during the droplet coalescence on water repellent surfaces, and helps develop water repellent condensers.

Two types of Cassie-to-Wenzel wetting transitions on superhydrophobic surfaces during drop impact.

Despite the fact that superhydrophobic surfaces possess useful and unique properties, their practical application has remained limited by durability issues. Among those, the wetting transition, whereby a surface gets impregnated by the liquid and permanently loses its superhydrophobicity, certainly constitutes the most limiting aspect under many realistic conditions. In this study, we revisit this so-called Cassie-to-Wenzel transition (CWT) under the broadly encountered situation of liquid drop impact. Using model hydrophobic micropillar surfaces of various geometrical characteristics and high speed imaging, we identify that CWT can occur through different mechanisms, and at different impact stages. At early impact stages, right after contact, CWT occurs through the well established dynamic pressure scenario of which we provide here a fully quantitative description. Comparing the critical wetting pressure of surfaces and the theoretical pressure distribution inside the liquid drop, we provide not only the CWT threshold but also the hardly reported wetted area which directly affects the surface spoiling. At a later stage, we report for the first time to our knowledge, a new CWT which occurs during the drop recoil toward bouncing. With the help of numerical simulations, we discuss the mechanism underlying this new transition and provide a simple model based on impulse conservation which successfully captures the transition threshold. By shedding light on the complex interaction between impacting water drops and surface structures, the present study will facilitate designing superhydrophobic surfaces with a desirable wetting state during drop impact.

Influence of geometric patterns of microstructured superhydrophobic surfaces on water-harvesting performance via dewing.

On superhydrophobic (SHPo) surfaces, either of two wetting states-the Cassie state (i.e., nonwetted state) and the Wenzel state (i.e., wetted state)-can be observed depending on the thermodynamic energy of each state and external conditions. Each wetting state leads to quite a distinctive dynamic characteristic of the water drop on SHPo surfaces, and it has been of primary interest to understand or induce the desirable wetting state for relevant thermofluid engineering applications. In this study, we investigate how the wetting state of microstructured SHPo surfaces influences the water-harvesting performance via dewing by testing two different patterns, including posts and grates with varying structural parameters. On grates, the observed Cassie wetting state during condensation is well described by the thermodynamic energy criteria, and small condensates can be efficiently detached from the surfaces because of the small contact line pinning force of Cassie droplets. Meanwhile, on posts, the observed wetting state is dominantly the Wenzel state regardless of the thermodynamic energy of each state, and the condensates are shed only after they grow to a sufficiently large size to overcome the much larger pinning force of the Wenzel state. On the basis of the mechanical force balance model and energy barrier consideration, we attribute the difference in the droplet shedding characteristics to the different dynamic pathway from the Wenzel state to the Cassie state between posts and grates. Overall, the faster droplet shedding helps to enhance the water-harvesting performance of the SHPo surfaces by facilitating condensation on the droplet-free area, as evidenced by the best water-harvesting performance of grates on the Cassie state among the tested surfaces.

Drop impact dynamics on oil-infused nanostructured surfaces.

We experimentally investigated the impact dynamics of a water drop on oil-infused nanostructured surfaces using high-speed microscopy and scalable metal oxide nano surfaces. The effects of physical properties of the oil and impact velocity on complex fluid dynamics during drop impact were investigated. We show that the oil viscosity does not have significant effects on the maximal spreading radius of the water drop, while it moderately affects the retraction dynamics. The oil viscosity also determines the stability of the infused lubricant oil during the drop impact; i.e., the low viscosity oil layer is easily displaced by the impacting drop, which is manifested by a residual mark on the impact region and earlier initiation of prompt splashing. Also, because of the liquid (water)-liquid (oil) interaction on oil-infused surfaces, various instabilities are developed at the rim during impact under certain conditions, resulting in the flower-like pattern during retraction or elongated filaments during spreading. We believe that our findings will contribute to the rational design of oil-infused surfaces under drop impact conditions by illuminating the complex fluid phenomena on oil-infused surfaces during drop impact.

Large apparent electric size of solid-state nanopores due to spatially extended surface conduction.

Ion transport through nanopores drilled in thin membranes is central to numerous applications, including biosensing and ion selective membranes. This paper reports experiments, numerical calculations, and theoretical predictions demonstrating an unexpectedly large ionic conduction in solid-state nanopores, taking its origin in anomalous entrance effects. In contrast to naive expectations based on analogies with electric circuits, the surface conductance inside the nanopore is shown to perturb the three-dimensional electric current streamlines far outside the nanopore in order to meet charge conservation at the pore entrance. This unexpected contribution to the ionic conductance can be interpreted in terms of an apparent electric size of the solid-state nanopore, which is much larger than its geometric counterpart whenever the number of charges carried by the nanopore surface exceeds its bulk counterpart. This apparent electric size, which can reach hundreds of nanometers, can have a major impact on the electrical detection of translocation events through nanopores, as well as for ionic transport in biological nanopores.

Underwater restoration and retention of gases on superhydrophobic surfaces for drag reduction.

Superhydrophobic (SHPo) surfaces have shown promise for passive drag reduction because their surface structures can hold a lubricating gas film between the solid surface and the liquid in contact with it. However, the types of SHPo surfaces that would produce any meaningful amount of reduction get wet under liquid pressure or at surface defects, both of which are unavoidable in the real world. In this Letter, we solve the above problem by (1) discovering surface structures that allow the restoration of a gas blanket from a wetted state while fully immersed underwater and (2) devising a self-controlled gas-generation mechanism that maintains the SHPo condition under high liquid pressures (tested up to 7 atm) as well as in the presence of surface defects, thus removing a fundamental barrier against the implementation of SHPo surfaces for drag reduction.

Influence of surface hierarchy of superhydrophobic surfaces on liquid slip.

We investigated how the surface hierarchy of superhydrophobic (SHPo) surfaces influences liquid slip by testing well-defined microposts that have nanoposts only on their top. Contrary to the commonly held belief, our results show that such hierarchical surfaces do not always lead to an increase of slip length despite their reduced solid fraction and enhanced hydrophobicity compared to single-scale surfaces. Adding nanoposts on top of the microposts resulted in an increase of slip length only if the original microposts had a solid fraction above a threshold value. For solid fractions below this threshold, adding nanoposts decreased the slip length. We propose that there were not enough nanoposts on the top surface of very thin microposts to support the liquid pressure, allowing the liquid to intrude down to the top corners of the microposts.

Brushed lubricant-impregnated surfaces (BLIS) for long-lasting high condensation heat transfer.

Recently, lubricant-impregnated surfaces (LIS) have emerged as a promising condenser surface by facilitating the removal of condensates from the surface. However, LIS has the critical limitation in that lubricant oil is depleted along with the removal of condensates. Such oil depletion is significantly aggravated under high condensation heat transfer. Here we propose a brushed LIS (BLIS) that can allow the application of LIS under high condensation heat transfer indefinitely by overcoming the previous oil depletion limit. In BLIS, a brush replenishes the depleted oil via physical contact with the rotational tube, while oil is continuously supplied to the brush by capillarity. In addition, BLIS helps enhance heat transfer performance with additional route to droplet removal by brush sweeping. By applying BLIS, we maintain the stable dropwise condensation mode for > 48 hours under high supersaturation levels along with up to 61% heat transfer enhancement compared to hydrophobic surfaces.

Contact time on curved superhydrophobic surfaces.

When a water drop impinges on a flat superhydrophobic surface, it bounces off the surface after a certain dwelling time, which is determined by the Rayleigh inertial-capillary timescale. Recent works have demonstrated that this dwelling time (i.e., contact time) is modified on curved superhydrophobic surfaces, as the drop asymmetrically spreads over the surface. However, the contact time on the curved surfaces still remains poorly understood, while no successful physical model for the contact time has been proposed. Here, we propose that the asymmetric spreading on the curved surface is driven by either the Coanda effect or inertia depending on the ratio of the drop diameter to the curvature diameter. Then, based on scaling analysis, we develop the contact time model that successfully predicts the contact time measured under a wide range of experiment conditions such as different impact velocities and curvature diameters. We believe that our results illuminate the underlying mechanism for the asymmetric spreading over the curved surface, while the proposed contact time model can be utilized for the design of superhydrophobic surfaces for various thermal applications, where the thermal exchange between the surface and the water drop occurs via a direct physical contact.

Passive Anti-Flooding Superhydrophobic Surfaces.

Superhydrophobic (SHPo) surfaces can provide high condensation heat transfer due to facilitated droplet removal. However, such high performance has been limited to low supersaturation conditions due to surface flooding. Here, we quantify flooding resistance defined as the rate of increase in the fraction of water-filled cavities with respect to the supersaturation level. Based on the quantitative understanding of surface flooding, we suggest effective anti-flooding strategies through tailoring the nanoscale coating heterogeneity and structure length scale. Experimental verification is conducted using CuO nanostructures having different length scales combined with hydrophobic coatings with different nanoscale heterogeneities. The proposed anti-flooding SHPo can provide a ∼130% enhanced average heat transfer coefficient with ∼14% larger supersaturation range for droplet jumping compared to a previous CuO SHPo. The proposed anti-flooding parameter and the scalable SHPo will help develop high-performance condensers for real-world applications operating in a wide range of supersaturation levels.

Maximizing the giant liquid slip on superhydrophobic microstructures by nanostructuring their sidewalls.

In an effort to maximize the liquid slip on superhydrophobic surfaces, we investigate the role of the nanoscale roughness on microscale structures by developing well-defined micro-nano hierarchical structures. The nonwetting stability and slip length on the dual-scale micro-nano structures are measured and compared with those on single-scale micro-smooth structures. A force balance between a liquid pressure and a surface tension indicates that hydrophobic nanostructures on the sidewall of microposts or microgrates would expand the range of the nonwetted state. When a higher gas fraction or a larger pitch can be tested without wetting, a larger slip length is expected on the microstructures. An ideal dual-scale structure is described that isolates the role of the nanostructures, and a fabrication technique is developed to achieve such a microstructure-smooth tops and nanostructured sidewalls. The tests confirm such micro-nano structures allow a nonwetted state at a higher gas fraction or a larger pitch than the previous micro-smooth structures. As a result, we achieve the maximum slip length of approximately 400 microm on the dual-scale structures, an increase of approximately 100% over the previous maximum reported on the single-scale (i.e., micro-smooth) structures. The study ameliorates our understanding of the role of each scale on hierarchical structures for a wetting transition and a liquid slip. The resulting giant slip is large enough to influence many fluidic applications, even in macroscale.