Coating compositions are provided that eject droplets of condensed fluid from a surface. The coatings include a nanostructured coating layer and in some embodiments, also include a hydrophobic layer deposited thereon. The coating materials eject droplets from the surface in the presence of non-condensing gases such as air and may be deployed under conditions of supersaturation of the condensed fluid to be ejected. A heat exchanger design utilizing the coating is described herein.

Coating compositions are provided that eject droplets of condensed fluid from a surface. The coatings include a nanostructured coating layer and in some embodiments, also include a hydrophobic layer deposited thereon. The coating materials eject droplets from the surface in the presence of non-condensing gases such as air and may be deployed under conditions of supersaturation of the condensed fluid to be ejected. A heat exchanger design utilizing the coating is described herein.

Methods and systems are disclosed which utilize liquid-philic surfaces and liquid-phobic surfaces to more safely and efficiently boil liquids and/or condense vapors. The methods and systems generally utilize two separated surfaces for nucleate boiling, where one of the surfaces is liquid-philic and the other is liquid-phobic. The methods and systems can utilize a condensing surface for condensing vapors, where the condensing surface can have liquid-philic regions and liquid-phobic regions.

Systems and methods that utilize enhanced boiling surfaces to promote the efficiency of boiling. Such a system has a surface that is hydrophobic and exhibits a sufficiently low receding contact angle to a liquid such that vapor spreading during bubble growth and premature transition to film boiling is mitigated.

The present disclosure describes a strategy to create self-healing, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces. Roughened (e.g., porous) surfaces can be utilized to lock in place a lubricating fluid, referred to herein as Liquid B to repel a wide range of materials, referred to herein as Object A (Solid A or Liquid A). Slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces outperforms other conventional surfaces in its capability to repel various simple and complex liquids (water, hydrocarbons, crude oil and blood), maintain low-contact-angle hysteresis (<2.5°), quickly restore liquid-repellency after physical damage (within 0.1-1 s), resist ice, microorganisms and insects adhesion, and function at high pressures (up to at least 690 atm). Some exemplary application where slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces will be useful include energy-efficient fluid handling and transportation, optical sensing, medicine, and as self-cleaning, and anti-fouling materials operating in extreme environments.

In certain embodiments, the invention is directed to apparatus comprising a liquid-impregnated surface, said surface comprising an impregnating liquid and a matrix of solid features spaced sufficiently close to stably contain the impregnating liquid therebetween or therewithin, and methods thereof. In some embodiments, one or both of the following holds: (i) 0<ϕ≤0.25, where ϕ is a representative fraction of the projected surface area of the liquid-impregnated surface corresponding to non-submerged solid at equilibrium; and (ii) S.sub.ow(a)<0, where S.sub.ow(a) is spreading coefficient, defined as γ.sub.wa−γ.sub.wo−γ.sub.oa, where γ is the interfacial tension between the two phases designated by subscripts w, a, and o, where w is water, a is air, and o is the impregnating liquid.

The group of inventions relates to heat exchange apparatus, and more particularly to condenser devices. The technological result of the group of inventions is that of reducing the risk of an increase in thermal resistance between the tube-side and shell-side heat transfer fluids of a shell and tube condenser. A condenser comprises a housing with tubes that have grooves on the outer surface thereof, baffles, and inlet and outlet manifolds for tube-side and shell-side heat transfer fluids. In contrast to the prior art, the tubes are coated on the outside with a material having a low wetting coefficient, and the distance between the baffles decreases from the shell-side heat transfer fluid inlet manifold to the shell-side heat transfer fluid outlet manifold. The condenser further differs from the prior art in that the tubes have protuberances on the inner surface thereof and are coated on the inside with a material having a high adhesion resistance coefficient.

The present invention discloses a flat heat pipe, comprising a bottom plate, a top plate, and a support plate located between the bottom plate and the top plate; a micron-level radial strip is processed on the inner surface of the bottom plate; the inner surface of the top plate is processed with superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic radial structures arranged at intervals to transport the condensate to the direction of the surrounding pipe wall; a wick is arranged on the inner side of the support plate. The present invention has the function of pumpless directional transport of liquid and convergence of refluxed condensate; thereby improving the heat exchange performance of the entire flat heat pipe.

A method for solidifying a polar substance, in particular water, is presented which comprises the steps of: providing a coolable, hydrophobic, preferably super-hydrophobic, condensation surface within an interior of a container; partially filling the container with a polar substance, preferably in liquid form, and an immiscible additive, preferably in liquid form, so that the condensation surface remains at least partially unsubmerged; cooling the hydrophobic condensation surface to a temperature T.sub.cond below a solidification temperature T.sub.solid of the polar substance; and removing solidified polar substance from the container.

A microchannel heat exchanger structure with a nozzle and a working method thereof. The microchannel heat exchanger structure with a nozzle, includes a first heat exchange portion, a second heat exchange portion, and at least one nozzle portion between the first heat exchange portion and the second heat exchange portion, the first heat exchange portion having a high-pressure heat exchange channel, a first micro-fin array being provided inside the high-pressure heat exchange channel, and the second heat exchange portion having a low-pressure heat exchange channel, the high-pressure heat exchange channel and the low-pressure heat exchange channel being in communication through at least one nozzle disposed in the nozzle portion. The heat exchanger structure has a good heat exchange effect and can achieve a better heat flux during heat exchange.