Ricardo Diaz
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Zhixiong Guo
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to investigate the effect of wettability (via contact
angle variation) on nanoscale pool boiling heat transfer of a liquid argon thin film on a horizontal copper
substrate topped with cubic nano-pillars. The liquid-solid potential was incrementally altered in order to
vary the contact angle between hydrophilic (θ ~ 63°) and super hydrophobic (θ ~ 155°), and the resulting effect
on heat transfer was observed. For each contact angle the superheat was gradually increased to initiate
nucleate boiling and eventually pass the critical heat flux (CHF) into the film boiling regime. Results
indicate that the maximum CHF is achieved on a somewhat hydrophobic substrate (θ ~ 124°-132°). The data
indicates that there is a quadratic relationship between CHF and contact angle, and an optimal contact angle
exists that is neither super hydrophilic nor super hydrophobic. As the contact angle increases the superheat
required to reach the CHF condition also increases.