Effect Of Wettability Research Articles

External Stefan and Internal Marangoni Thermo-Fluid Dynamics for Evaporating Capillary Bridges.

We probe the evaporation mechanisms of wettability-moderated, confined capillary bridges and bulges. For the first time, we explore the internal Marangoni hydrodynamics and external Stefan advection dynamics in the surrounding gaseous domain due to evaporative effects. A transient simulation approach based on the level set (LS) method and the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) framework was adopted to computationally model the capillary bridge profiles and evaporation phenomenon with generic contact line dynamics (both CCR and CCA modes). The governing equations corresponding to the transport processes in both the liquid and gaseous domains are simulated in a fully coupled manner with appropriate boundary conditions to precisely trace the liquid-vapor interface and the three-phase contact point during evaporation. The effect of the bridge confinement phenomenon, i.e., the extent of confined ambient surrounding the liquid-vapor interface between the solid surfaces, is explored. Also, the role of wetting state and contact line dynamics during CCR and CCA modes of evaporation were probed, and good agreement with experimental observations was noted. Results show that the evaporation rate is primarily dictated by the confinement phenomenon, and wettability effects play a marginal role. A higher confinement curtails the evaporation rate due to an increased local vapor concentration around the liquid bridges. However, the wetting state substantially affects the internal Marangoni effect dynamics and the Stefan advection dynamics due to its explicit influence on the nonuniform evaporative flux along the liquid-vapor interface. Between superhydrophobic confinements, the contact lines are confined in the wedge-shaped region, thereby locally augmenting the vapor concentration. As a result, the large evaporative flux near the bulge region develops a higher temperature gradient, thereby inducing upscaled thermal Marangoni flow compared to hydrophilic confinements. These findings may have significant implications for the efficient designing and development of thermofluidic systems involving thermal transport, mixing, and deposition of dissolved particles in liquid bridges.

Numerical study on heat and mass transfer characteristics of surface wettability

It has been shown that wettability has an important effect on the surface’s heat transfer performance. In this article, the effects of different wettability of the surfaces of the micropillar array on the heat transfer performance under the same working condition (single-wettability and mixed-wettability surfaces) are compared by numerical simulation, the effects of the surface’s geometrical structure on the flow state of the workpiece and the behavior of the bubbles are also described. It is found that the mixed wettability surfaces combine the characteristics of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces can effectively reduce the wall temperature. The microcolumn array further enhances the boiling heat transfer effect by perturbing the flow process of the workpiece while increasing the heated area. The surface structure of the hydrophobic top combined with hydrophilic sidewalls can significantly improve the heat transfer performance by 10%∼40% during the stable boiling process.

Wide-range controllable stick-to-slip hydrogels by synergistic effects of wettability and surface morphology

MaterialsWith the ability to swiftly transition into a lubricated state hold significant importance across various applications, including human-machine interfaces, crawling robots, and medical dressings. Achieving a rapid and reversible shift from high adhesion to low friction over a broad range has posed a considerable challenge, as most reversible transitions in adhesive hydrogels typically occur only at the microscopic level. In this study, this challenge has been addressed by leveraging the synergistic interplay between dynamic macroscopic contact and microscopic group changes to engineer a switchable adhesion-to-lubrication hydrogel (denoted as the PVA/PAA hydrogel). Upon the application of borax to the PVA/PAA hydrogels (denoted as the B-PVA/PAA hydrogel), alterations in surface morphology and hydrophilicity ensue due to the cross-linking of hydroxyl and boron atoms and the subsequent dissociation of carboxyl groups induced by borax. These transformations caused by synergistic effects give rise to changes in the adhesive and lubrication characteristics of the hydrogels. Consequently, the hydrogel can readily transition between an adhesive state (adhesion strength ∼ 26 kPa) and a lubrication state (μ ∼ 0.028), driven by shifts in surface topography and hydrophilicity. This mechanism provides a versatile and efficient approach for the creation of a fast-switchable adhesive gel with stick-slip properties, offering promising prospects for a wide array of practical applications.

Wetting and Spreading Behavior of Axisymmetric Compound Droplets on Curved Solid Walls Using Conservative Phase Field Lattice Boltzmann Method.

Compound droplets have received increasing attention due to their applications in many several areas, including medicine and materials. Previous works mostly focused on compound droplets on planar surfaces and, as such, the effects of curved walls have not been studied thoroughly. In this paper, the influence of the properties of curved solid wall (including the shape, curvature, and contact angle) on the wetting behavior of compound droplets is explored. The axisymmetric lattice Boltzmann method, based on the conservative phase field formulation for ternary fluids, was used to numerically study the wetting and spreading of a compound droplet of the Janus type on various curved solid walls at large density ratios, focusing on whether the separation of compound droplets occurs. Several types of wall geometries were considered, including a planar wall, a concave wall with constant curvature, and a convex wall with fixed or variable curvature (specifically, a prolate or oblate spheroid). The effects of surface wettability, interfacial angles, and the density ratio (of droplet to ambient fluid) on the wetting process were also explored. In general, it was found that, under otherwise identical conditions, droplet separation tends to happen more likely on more hydrophilic walls, under larger interfacial angles (measured inside the droplet), and at larger density ratios. On convex walls, a larger radius of curvature of the surface near the droplet was found to be helpful to split the Janus droplet. On concave walls, as the radius of curvature increases from a small value, the possibility to observe droplet separation first increases and then decreases. Several phase diagrams on whether droplet separation occurs during the spreading process were produced for different kinds of walls to illustrate the influences of various factors.

Study on Numerical Simulation of Gas–Water Two-Phase Micro-Seepage Considering Fluid–Solid Coupling in the Cleats of Coal Rocks

The increasing demand for natural gas energy will promote unconventional natural gas, such as coal seam gas and shale gas, to play a key role in future energy development. The mechanical properties of coal seams are weaker compared with conventional natural gas reservoirs. The fluid–solid coupling phenomenon exists widely at the pore scale and macro scale of coal seams, and runs through the whole process of coalbed gas exploitation. The objective of this study is to establish a microscale gas–water flow model for coalbed methane considering fluid structure coupling. Frist, this study used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to obtain microscopic pore images of coal rocks. Then, we constructed a numerical model to simulate the movement of coalbed methane and water within the scale of coal cleats based on the Navier–Stokes equation, phase field method, and solid mechanics theory. Finally, we analyzed the effects of injection pressure and wettability on the microscopic two-phase seepage characteristics and displacement efficiency of coal. Our research shows that when the injection pressure is increased from 60 kPa to 120 kPa, the displacement completion time is shortened from 1.3 × 10−4 s to 7 × 10−5 s, and the time is doubled, resulting in a final gas saturation of 98%. The contact angle increases from 45° to 120°, and the final gas saturation increases from 0.871 to 0.992, an increase of 12.2%.

Wettability-modulated behavior of polymers under varying degrees of nano-confinement

Extreme confinement in nanochannels results in unconventional equilibrium and flow behavior of polymers. The underlying flow physics dictating such paradigms remains far from being understood and more so if the confining substrate is composed of two-dimensional materials, such as graphene. In this study, we conducted systematic molecular dynamics simulations to explore the effect of wettability, confinement, and chain length on polymer flow through graphene-like nanochannels. Altering the wetting properties of these membranes that structurally represent graphene results in substantial changes in the behavior of polymers of disparate chain lengths. Longer hydrocarbon chains (n-dodecane) exhibit negligible wettability-dependent structuring in narrower nanochannels compared to shorter chains (n-hexane) culminating in higher average velocities and interfacial slippage of n-dodecane under less wettable conditions. We demonstrate that the wettability compensation comes from chain entanglement attributed to entropic factors. This study reveals a delicate balance between wettability-dependent enthalpy and chain-length-dependent entropy, resulting in a unique nanoscale flow paradigm, thus not only having far-reaching implications in the superior discernment of polymeric flow in sub-micrometer regimes but also potentially revolutionizing various applications in the oil industry, including innovative oil transport, oil extraction, ion transport polymers, and separation membranes.

Effect of Surface Wettability on Nanoparticle Deposition during Pool Boiling on Laser-Textured Copper Surfaces

Prior studies have evidenced the potential for enhancing boiling heat transfer through modifications of surface or fluid properties. The deployment of nanofluids in pool boiling systems is challenging due to the deposition of nanoparticles on structured surfaces, which may result in performance deterioration. This study addresses the use of TiO2–water nanofluids (mass concentrations of 0.001 wt.% and 0.1 wt.%) in pool boiling heat transfer and concurrent mitigation of nanoparticle deposition on superhydrophobic laser-textured copper surfaces. Samples, modified through nanosecond laser texturing, were subjected to boiling in an as-prepared superhydrophilic (SHPI) state and in a superhydrophobic state (SHPO) following hydrophobization with a self-assembled monolayer of fluorinated silane. The boiling performance assessment involved five consecutive boiling curve runs under saturated conditions at atmospheric pressure. Results on superhydrophilic surfaces reveal that the use of nanofluids always led to a deterioration of the heat transfer coefficient (up to 90%) compared to pure water due to high nanoparticle deposition. The latter was largely mitigated on superhydrophobic surfaces, yet their performance was still inferior to that of the same surface in water. On the other hand, CHF values of 1209 kW m−2 and 1462 kW m−2 were recorded at 0.1 wt.% concentration on both superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces, respectively, representing a slight enhancement of 16% and 27% compared to the results obtained on their counterparts investigated in water.

Surface wettability-induced modulations of droplet breakup in a bifurcated microchannel

We explore the dynamics of droplet propagation and subsequent disintegration in a symmetric bifurcating Y-microchannel by varying the wettability characteristics of one of the daughter channels while maintaining the wettability of the other constant. The temporal evolution of the droplet is numerically investigated using the phase-field method. Based on the neck-width evolution, the droplet bifurcation phenomenon has been divided into three separate stages, namely, squeezing, transition, and pinch-off. During the squeezing stage, the rate of change of neck width increases as the wettability angle decreases, while an opposite trend is observed at the pinch-off stage, leading to almost identical breakup time for the droplet regardless of the wettability angle. We identify pertinent regimes of droplet breakup, such as symmetric breakup, asymmetric breakup, no-breakup upper channel, no-breakup lower channel, and spreading regime, over wide ranges of capillary numbers (Ca) and viscosity ratio (μr). Our study indicates that an increase in the relative influence of viscous force (high Ca) reduces the droplet's wettability effect. The same pattern is obtained when the viscosity of the droplet is increased in relation to the viscosity of the carrier fluid. In contrast, for low Ca flows, the relatively strong interfacial tension favors the wettability characteristics of the surface, resulting in a dominance of non-breakup regimes. The regime plots proposed in this paper depict the roles of Ca and μr on various breakup regimes in detail. Such regime diagrams may emerge as fundamental design basis of microfluidic devices in diverse applications, such as biopharmaceuticals, microreactors, and food processing.

Controlling gas–liquid flow and enhancing heat transfer in a T-junction microchannel by wettability-engineered walls

Characteristics of gas–liquid flow and heat transfer in a cross-flow T-junction microchannel with wettability-engineered walls are numerically investigated in this paper. The validated diffuse interface method is adopted for interface capture. First, the effects of wall wettability on bubble formation and transportation are studied. Three flow patterns are observed due to different combinations of the bottom and the top wall contact angles. On this basis, two methods are proposed to enhance the heat transfer. One is to increase the two-phase interfacial contact area by dividing the microchannel into three functional regions, which can promote the heat exchange at the two-phase interface. The other is to increase the velocity fluctuation intensity by alternating the contact angle along the channel, which can enhance mixing between the hot liquid layer adjacent to the wall and the cool liquid core. These two methods are applicative for steady and unsteady problems, respectively. The flow states, velocity vectors, and streamlines are used to analyze the fluid and thermal mixing mechanism. Meanwhile, a quantitative comparison of the wall temperature is made at a given wall heat flux. The obtained results can provide fresh insights into the gas–liquid flow control and the heat transfer enhancement in a microchannel, which are valuable for the design of microreactors and radiators.

Effect of Interface Wettability on Additively Manufactured Metal Matrix Composites: A Case Study of 316L-Y2O3 Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened Steel

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a fusion-based additive manufacturing process. It has the advantage of allowing the manufacturing of metal matrix composites. This advantage arises from its small melting zone and rapid cooling rate, which minimize the risk of reinforcement segregation. In this work, 0.3 wt% and 1.0 wt% Y2O3 nanoparticles were added to 316L to fabricate oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steels using the LPBF process. Notably, Y2O3 agglomerates were identified in the LPBF-fabricated 316L ODS steels, without inducing grain refinement, while the impact on tensile strength of Y2O3 addition proved negligible. Tensile elongation was decreased due to the poor bonding of the Y2O3 agglomerations to the matrix. The crucial role of the wettability of the reinforcement and the matrix in facilitating grain refinement and strength enhancement is discussed. The poor wettability of the Y2O3 particles and 316L emerged as the primary cause for Y2O3 agglomeration. This finding highlights the importance of addressing wettability issues to optimize the manufacturing process and enhance the overall performance of LPBF-fabricated metal matrix composites.

Flow dynamics and size-based sorting of bidispersed colloidal particles in evaporating sessile water droplets: substrate heating and wettability effects

Flow dynamics and size-based sorting of bidispersed colloidal particles in evaporating sessile water droplets: substrate heating and wettability effects

Wettability effect on hydraulic permeability of brain white matter

Wettability effect on hydraulic permeability of brain white matter

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study of the Effects of Water Content and Wettability on the Shear Properties of Kaolinite for the Failure of Clay Soil

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study of the Effects of Water Content and Wettability on the Shear Properties of Kaolinite for the Failure of Clay Soil

The Influence of Wettability Effect and Adsorption Thickness on Nanoconfined Methane Phase Behavior: Vapor-Liquid Co-Existence Curves and Phase Diagrams

Research interest in the behavior of methane inside nanopores has been growing, driven by the substantial geological reserves of shale gas and coalbed methane. The phase diagram of methane in nanopores differs significantly from its bulk state, influencing its existing form and pertinent physical properties—such as density and viscosity—at specific pressures and temperatures. Currently, there is a lack of effort to understand the nanoconfinement effect on the methane phase diagram; this is a crucial issue that needs urgent attention before delving into other aspects of nanoconfined methane behavior. In this study, we establish a fully coupled model to predict the methane phase diagram across various scales. The model is based on vapor-liquid fugacity equilibrium, considering the shift in critical pressure and temperature induced by pore size shrinkage and adsorption-phase thickness. Notably, our proposed model incorporates the often-overlooked factor of capillary pressure, which is greatly amplified by nanoscale pore size and the presence of the adsorption phase. Additionally, we investigated the impact of surface wettability, correlated to capillary pressure and the shift in critical properties, on the methane phase diagram. Our results indicate that (a) as pore size decreases, the methane phase diagram becomes more vertical, suggesting a transition from a gaseous to a liquid state for some methane molecules, which is contrary to the conventional phase diagram; (b) enhancing surface wettability results in a more vertical phase diagram, with the minimum temperature corresponding to 0 MPa pressure on the phase diagram, increasing by as much as 87.3%; (c) the influence of capillary pressure on the phase diagram is more pronounced under strong wettability conditions compared to weak wettability, and the impact from the shift in critical properties can be neglected when the pore size exceeds 50 nm.

Molecular simulation study of the influence of different surfactants on the wetting characteristics of anthracite

The reduction of dust pollution in coal mines is of great importance both for protection of the environment and for the occupational safety and health of coal mine workers. The reduction of dust from anthracite has been a challenge due to its inherent hydrophobicity and high metamorphism. As a result, surfactants are commonly added to water to improve the wettability of coal, thereby improving the dust reduction efficiency of a water spray system. To clarify from a microscopic perspective the effect of different surfactants on the wettability of anthracite, models for the anthracite-surfactant-water system were established, and adsorption configuration, relative concentration distribution, and the diffusion coefficients of water molecules in the systems were thoroughly investigated with molecular simulations. The results showed the directional arrangement of surfactants in the simulation systems after 150 ps of equilibration, resulting in the reduced surface tension of the water-surfactant solution and enhanced wettability of anthracite. Along the (001) normal direction, the relative concentration of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) (15.32), the anthracite-water overlapping area, the diffusion rate of water molecules, and the activity (DSDBS = 0.97 × 10-8 m2·s−1) were maximized, indicating the excellent wettability effect of SDBS. The results of the study are of practical significance for improving the wetting effect of anthracite, improving the dust reduction efficiency, and safeguarding the occupational safety and health of personnel.

Molecular dynamics study on effect of wettability on boiling heat transfer of thin liquid films

How surface wettability affects boiling heat transfer of thin liquid film on a nanoscale remains a challenging research topic. In this work, the effects of wettability on the nanoscale boiling heat transfer for a thin liquid film on hydrophilic surface and hydrophobic surface are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Results demonstrate that the hydrophilic surface has better heat transfer performance than the hydrophobic surface. It has a shorter boiling onset time, higher temperature, heat flux, interfacial thermal conductance, and weakened interfacial thermal resistance. The hydrophilic surface throughout has higher critical heat flux than the hydrophobic surface in both macro-system and nanoscale system. Besides, a two-dimensional surface potential energy is proposed to reveal the mechanism of wettability affecting the boiling heat transfer. The absolute value of potential energy in one regular unit of hydrophilicity (–0.34 eV) is much higher than that of hydrophobicity (–0.09 eV). That is the crucial reason why the heat transfer enhancement via improving surface wettability should be primarily the powerful surface potential energy. In addition, the interaction energy is calculated to further address the nucleation mechanism and heat transfer performance for liquid film on different wettability surfaces. The interaction energy values are ordered as <i>I</i><sub>phi</sub> (1.57 eV/nm<sup>2</sup>) > <i>I</i><sub>water</sub> (0.48 eV/nm<sup>2</sup>) > <i>I</i><sub>pho</sub> (0.26 eV/nm<sup>2</sup>), indicating that the better heat transfer performance of hydrophilic surface is because of the large interaction energy at the solid/liquid interface. Besides, the bubble nucleation on a hydrophilic surface needs absorbing more energy and occurs inside the thin liquid film, while it needs absorbing less energy and triggering off at the solid/liquid interface with hydrophobicity. Those uncover the principal mechanisms of how wettability influences the bubble nucleation and boiling heat transfer performance on a nanoscale.

Enhancing pool boiling heat transfer of modified surface by 3-D Lattice Boltzmann method

In this study, pool boiling from micro-pillar modified surface has been simulated numerically by a 3-D lattice Boltzmann method. Effects of geometries and wettability of micro-pillar on boiling heat transfer performance were also systematically evaluated. Result showed that compared within micro-pillar surface, heat flux of cubic micro-pillar surface was the highest with the lowest wall temperature. In addition, compared to hydrophilic condition, Heat flux of cubic micro-pillar surface with hydrophobic wettability increased by 98.3%. This is because hydrophobic wettability influenced nucleation site density, vapor-liquid-flow field and heat transfer performance much more than cubic shaped geometry. Finally, heat flux of cubic micro-pillar surface with hybrid wettability increased by 430.7% compared to pure hydrophilic wettability. That is due to optimal hybrid wettability surface could control nucleate site location, restrict bubble growth, and increase obviously heat transfer performance.

Enhanced dropwise condensation on downward-facing cross-shaped pillar-structured surfaces with mixed wettability

In this paper, a novel downward-facing cross-shaped pillar-structured surface with mixed wettability is conceived for enhancing dropwise condensation. A three-dimensional thermal lattice Boltzmann model is employed to investigate the condensation performance on the downward-facing cross-shaped pillar-structured surface with mixed wettability and the associated enhancement mechanism of dropwise condensation. The numerical investigation shows that the cross-shaped pillar-structured surface with mixed wettability exhibits much better condensation performance than the square pillar-structured surface with mixed wettability and the flat surface with mixed wettability due to the synergistic effects of structural effects and mixed wettability, which can promote the droplet nucleation and accelerate the condensate removal. Moreover, for different contact angles of the pillar top (θtop), there exists a competition between the droplet nucleation and the condensate removal on the downward-facing cross-shaped pillar-structured surface. It is found that, when θtop=60°, an optimal droplet dripping rate can be achieved due to a suitable balance between a relatively large mass of detached droplets and a short condensation cycle time. Furthermore, the aspect ratio (γ) has an important influence on the droplet dripping rate, i.e., as γ increases, the droplet dripping rate first exhibits small fluctuations, then increases rapidly before γ=1.0, and after that experiences a slight variation. The large droplet dripping rate achieved at γ=1.0 is mainly attributed to the fact that an optimum structure of the concave corner can promote the droplet nucleation, increase the length of the triple-phase contact line, advance the appearance of droplet coalescence, and finally accelerate the condensate removal.

Drainage dynamics: From capillary to viscous fingering under different wettability

The displacement of two-phase fluids within porous media is a critical process in various engineering and industrial fields. However, the inherent instability of the fluid interface often leads to an irregular morphology of the displacement front, which can impact the efficiency of displacement and limit its application in engineering activities. In this study, the color gradient model based on the lattice Boltzmann method was employed to simulate displacement, with the aim of investigating the dynamic evolution of the displacement front under the combined effects of wettability and injection velocity, specifically during the capillary to viscous fingering transition. The results demonstrate that the impact of wettability on the displacement front morphology increases as the injection velocity decreases. The displacement process with the maximum fingering distribution range and compact morphology is found at the midpoint of the capillary-viscous fingering crossover zone. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the phase field evolution and pressure difference changes between the inlet and outlet unveiled the pore-filling mechanisms associated with the unique variation characteristics of the displacement front and the fluid topological structure. These comprehensive pore-scale findings offer theoretical insight supporting the engineering application of the two-phase flow in porous media from multiple perspectives.

Rational design of local microenvironment for electrocatalytic water splitting

This summary describes the effects of wettability, local pH, interfacial water structure, and electrolyte composition on the interface reactant compositions, key intermediate adsorption, and reaction kinetics.