Self-Propelled Hovercraft Based on Cold Leidenfrost Phenomenon

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 28574
• Main Authors: Shi, Meng, Ji, Xing, Feng, Shangsheng, Yang, Qingzhen, Lu, Tian Jian, Xu, Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 24.06.2016; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/166/988; 639/766/189; Carbon dioxide; Heat; High temperature; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Reynolds number; Science; Velocity; Water temperature
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep28574

The Leidenfrost phenomenon of liquid droplets levitating and dancing when placed upon a hot plate due to propulsion of evaporative vapor has been extended to many self-propelled circumstances. However, such self-propelled Leidenfrost devices commonly need a high temperature for evaporation and a structured solid substrate for directional movements. Here we observed a “cold Leidenfrost phenomenon” when placing a dry ice device on the surface of room temperature water, based on which we developed a controllable self-propelled dry ice hovercraft. Due to the sublimated vapor, the hovercraft could float on water and move in a programmable manner through designed structures. As demonstrations, we showed that the hovercraft could be used as a cargo ship or a petroleum contamination collector without consuming external power. This phenomenon enables a novel way to utilize programmable self-propelled devices on top of room temperature water, holding great potential for applications in energy, chemical engineering and biology.