On the Nanoengineering of Superhydrophobic and Impalement Resistant Surface Textures below the Freezing Temperature

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 172 - 182
• Main Authors: Maitra, Tanmoy, Tiwari, Manish K, Antonini, Carlo, Schoch, Philippe, Jung, Stefan, Eberle, Patric, Poulikakos, Dimos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 08.01.2014
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Droplets; Exact sciences and technology; Impact velocity; Liquids; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Nanoengineering; Nanostructure; Penetration; Physics; Surface layer; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Texture; superhydrophobicity; Hierarchical surface morphology; supercooling; drop impact; anti-icing; Viscosity; Temperature dependence; Roughness; Hydrophobic compound; Very low temperature; Nanostructures; Heat treatments; Liquid meniscus; Nanometer scale; Bubbles; Supercooling; Droplets; Surface texture
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl4037092

The superhydrophobic behavior of nano- and microtextured surfaces leading to rebound of impacting droplets is of great relevance to nature and technology. It is not clear however, if and under what conditions this behavior is maintained when such surfaces are severely undercooled possibly leading to the formation of frost and icing. Here we elucidate key aspects of this phenomenon and show that the outcome of rebound or impalement on a textured surface is affected by air compression underneath the impacting drop and the time scale allowing this air to escape. Remarkably, drop impalement occurred at identical impact velocities, both at room and at very low temperatures (−30 °C) and featured a ringlike liquid meniscus penetration into the surface texture with an entrapped air bubble in the middle. At low temperatures, the drop contact time and receding dynamics of hierarchical surfaces were profoundly influenced by both an increase in the liquid viscosity due to cooling and a partial meniscus penetration into the texture. For hierarchical surfaces with the same solid fraction in their roughness, minimizing the gap between the asperities (both at micro- and nanoscales) yielded the largest resistance to millimetric drop impalement. The best performing surface impressively showed rebound at −30 °C for drop impact velocity of 2.6 m/s.