About this Research Topic

Background

Surface engineering has emerged as a pivotal field in enhancing phase-change processes, which are critical in applications requiring high heat-flux management, such as electronics cooling. The challenge lies in optimizing the performance of evaporators and condensers in loop heat pipes to handle heat loads as high as 10MW/m².

Recent research has focused on the introduction of non-smooth surfaces, inspired by natural phenomena like the lotus leaf and desert beetle, to improve heat transfer efficiency. The lotus leaf's surface promotes dropwise condensation and "jumping drops", minimizing thermal resistance, while the desert beetle's dual-wettability enhances nucleate boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux.

Despite advances in experimental and computational techniques providing new insights into these effects, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains incomplete. This gap underscores the need for further investigation into the role of non-smooth surfaces in phase-change phenomena.

This Research Topic aims to highlight the latest developments in phase-change phenomena on non-smooth surfaces. We are particularly interested in understanding how these surfaces influence boiling, condensation, and evaporation mechanisms, leading to enhanced heat transfer.

We welcome research focused on experimental and analytical/computational studies, validated against existing literature. Additionally, review papers that provide a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art and propose future research directions are highly encouraged. The overarching goal of this Topic is to deepen our understanding of the interactions between non-smooth surfaces and phase-change processes, paving the way for improved thermal management solutions.

We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Influence of wettability on phase transition processes
• Enhancement of critical heat flux and nucleate boiling during pool/flow boiling
• Flow boiling in mini/micro channels where non-smooth surfaces improve either the condenser or the evaporator performance (or both)
• Loop heat pipes capable of removing high-heat flux of 2MW/m² or higher
• Promotion of dropwise condensation heat transfer with or without "jumping drops"
• Efficient fog harvesting with limited ΔT
• Droplet evaporation and associated phenomena on non-smooth or inclined surfaces
• Triple line dynamics during phase transitions on structured surfaces
• Evaporation and boiling of liquid film on rough surfaces
• Interactions of the vapor structures on non-smooth surfaces
• Enhancement of both boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux with functional coatings.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: experimental research, nucleate boiling, droplet condensation, heat transfer, phase-change, non-smooth surfaces, numerical simulation, critical heat flux, evaporation mechanisms, phase transition processes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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