Nucleate Boiling on Biotemplated Nanostructured Surfaces

The fabrication and characterization of biotemplated nanostructured surfaces for enhanced pool boiling heat transfer is reported. By introducing micro/nano-porosity and surface roughness at the liquid-vapor interface, significant enhancement in surface heat transfer capability can be achieved during nucleate boiling. This work uses the self-assembly and mineralization of the Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) to create superhydrophilic (∼9°), superhydrophobic (∼163°), and mixed hydrophilic-hydrophobic (∼70°) surfaces to investigate the effects of surface wettability and heterogeneity on boiling heat transfer performance. Pool boiling results showing CHF and HTC values for nickel-coated TMV, Teflon-coated TMV, mixed nickel + Teflon coated TMV, flat silicon, and flat Teflon are reported. The mixed surfaces demonstrate a CHF enhancement of ∼ 70% compared to flat silicon and ∼140% compared to flat Teflon. The results are in good agreement with the literature and will guide the design of optimized surfaces for further enhancement. This work demonstrates the feasibility of enhancing pool boiling heat transfer using TMV based nanostructured coatings.