title: Self-Propelled Hovercraft Based on Cold Leidenfrost Phenomenon.
abstract: The Leidenfrost phenomenon of liquid droplets levitating and dancing when placed upon a hot plate due to propulsion of evaporative vapor has been extended to many self-propelled circumstances. However, such self-propelled Leidenfrost devices commonly need a high temperature for evaporation and a structured solid substrate for directional movements. Here we observed a "cold Leidenfrost phenomenon" when placing a dry ice device on the surface of room temperature water, based on which we developed a controllable self-propelled dry ice hovercraft. Due to the sublimated vapor, the hovercraft could float on water and move in a programmable manner through designed structures. As demonstrations, we showed that the hovercraft could be used as a cargo ship or a petroleum contamination collector without consuming external power. This phenomenon enables a novel way to utilize programmable self-propelled devices on top of room temperature water, holding great potential for applications in energy, chemical engineering and biology.
authors.affiliation: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|MOE Key Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials and Structures, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.
authors.forename: Shangsheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|MOE Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.
authors.forename: Qingzhen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|MOE Key Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials and Structures, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.
authors.forename: Tian Jian
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.|MOE Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu