title: On the onset of surface condensation: formation and transition mechanisms of condensation mode.
abstract: Molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out to investigate the onset of surface condensation. On surfaces with different wettability, we snapshot different condensation modes (no-condensation, dropwise condensation and filmwise condensation) and quantitatively analyze their characteristics by temporal profiles of surface clusters. Two different types of formation of nanoscale droplets are identified, i.e. the formations with and without film-like condensate. We exhibit the effect of surface tensions on the formations of nanoscale droplets and film. We reveal the formation mechanisms of different condensation modes at nanoscale based on our simulation results and classical nucleation theory, which supplements the 'classical hypotheses' of the onset of dropwise condensation. We also reveal the transition mechanism between different condensation modes based on the competition between surface tensions and reveal that dropwise condensation represents the transition states from no-condensation to filmwise condensation.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: Hua Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wang