Thermo-Wetting and Friction Reduction Characterization of Microtextured Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Microtextured superhydrophobic surfaces have become ubiquitous in a myriad of engineering applications. These surfaces have shown potential in friction reduction applications and could be poised to make a big impact in thermal management applications. For instance higher heat transfer rate with less pumping power might be achievable through the aid of superhydrophobic surfaces. However, past and current research on superhydrophobic surface has focused mainly on modifying either the chemical component or the roughness factors of such surfaces. The purpose of this paper is to account for the thermal effects of the heated fluid flowing in superhydrophobic microfluidic channels. Herein we characterize the wetting behavior as a function of temperature of microtextured superhydrophobic surfaces, for both active and passive thermal management applications. A series of PDMS microtextured samples were fabricated using micromachining and soft lithography techniques. Flow measurements were performed using the superhydrophobic microfluidic channel. The channel surface roughness was large enough to induce the Cassie-Baxter state, a phenomenon in which a liquid rests on top of a textured surface with a gas layer trapped underneath the liquid layer. This gas layer induces a two-phase flow, and friction reduction can be achieved for the liquid channel flow. With this channel, flow rates were measured by varying the equilibrium temperature of the substrate. The temperature in the constant pressure source was controlled by circulating the water through a water-bath. As the heating reached a certain threshold the curvature of the liquid-gas interface was reversed and dewetting of the penetrated liquid layer was observed. This result suggests that the Cassie state in fluid flow can be prolonged even under increased pressure drops by increasing the temperature in the gas layer.