Superhydrophobic surface as a fluid enhancement material in engineering applications

Abstract

In this study, a superhydrophobic surface and its relation to the enhancement of the droplet fluid dynamics to the surface of the object materials was investigated. As the comparison, hydrophilic and uncoated surface of an object also investigated. The investigations used height of impact at 89 mm. The high quality speed camera is employed to investigate the droplet dynamic on a copper foil and a calcium fluoride surfaces. Both of the materials are coated with superhydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces separately. The droplet diameter was analyzed using the program PHANTOM. The droplet contact angle was analyzed by the Goniometry method. The water was dropped on the calcium fluoride and the copper foil using a syringe (sharp tip) with initial droplet diameter of 1.9 mm. To record the droplet fluid shape, the photo micro sensor was placed inside the trigger box below the syringe. The results showed that the superhydrophobic surface both on copper foil and calcium fluoride enhanced the mobility of a droplet compared to the hydrophilic and the uncoated surfaces. The results showed that the maximum droplet diameter on the copper foil coated by the superhydrophobic, the hydrophilic and the uncoated surfaces are 4.7, 5.0, 5.2 mm, respectively; and for the calcium fluoride are 4.5, 5.1 and 5.5 mm, respectively. Meanwhile, the results for the droplet contact angle on the copper foil coated by the superhydrophobic, the hydrophilic and the uncoated surfaces are 20°, 90°, 160°, respectively; and for the calcium fluoride are 25°, 95°, 165°, respectively.