title: Wettability influence on the onset temperature of pool boiling: Experimental evidence onto ultra-smooth surfaces.
abstract: In this article we study systematically the effect of wettability on the onset of boiling on the same nanometrically smooth surface. By grafting different monolayers of molecules, we were able to explore the wettability from the equilibrium static contact angle, θ0=0° to θ0=110°, without changing the surface topography. The superheat temperature at the onset of pool boiling was measured and eventually a non-classical trend of TONB as a function of wettability was observed. The nucleation site densities for the different grafting cases were also measured by image analysis. Moreover, we propose a novel theoretical interpretation to this phenomenon linking nucleation and the molecular diffusion coefficient. MD simulation results support this approach.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique des Surfaces et des Interfaces, Université de Mons, Av. Maistriau, 19, B-7000 Mons, Belgium. Electronic address: benoit.bourdon@umons.ac.be.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bourdon
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique des Surfaces et des Interfaces, Université de Mons, Av. Maistriau, 19, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.affiliation: Università di Pisa - DESTEC, largo L. Lazzarino, 1, 56122, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5, 24044 Dalmine, Italy; School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 4GJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marengo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique des Surfaces et des Interfaces, Université de Mons, Av. Maistriau, 19, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rioboo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique des Surfaces et des Interfaces, Université de Mons, Av. Maistriau, 19, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Coninck
keywords: Heat transfer; Pool boiling; Superheat; Surface treatment; Wettability