Droplet pattern and condensation gradient around a humidity sink

We describe the evolution of a water drop saturated with NaCl and the growth of pure water droplets in a breath figure pattern (BF) condensing around it. This salty drop acts as a humidity sink, inhibiting the BF inside a ring at a distance r=δ from the sink center and slowing down BF growth outside the ring. The initial salty drop is taken either from a salt-saturated solution (type I experiment) or by placing an NaCl crystal on the substrate (type II experiment). The results are similar, provided that the initial time for type II evolution is taken at the end of the crystal dissolution. The evolution of the salty drop radius R is deduced from the establishment of a three-dimensional hyperbolic concentration profile around the salty drop. This profile scales with r/δ. Accounting for the salt concentration decrease with salty drop growth, R is seen to grow as t5. In the region r>δ, water droplets nucleate and grow. The rate of evolution of the water droplets at constant r/δ can be used to determine the local water pressure. The corresponding data reasonably agree with a hyperbolic water vapor profile around the salty drop. These results can be applied to the growth of BF patterns to determine whether hyperbolic or linear water vapor profiles apply

Percolation-induced frost formation

We report the observation of an unconventional mechanism for frost formation. On a smooth hydrophobic surface cooled much below the water freezing temperature (−9 °C), we find that, instead of the classical freezing of individual supercooled condensed droplets, frost can occur through a multi-step 2-dimensional percolation-driven mechanism. This in-plane propagation process provides a model to investigate more complex bulk phase transformations such as those occurring in atmospheric supercooled clouds. It can also lead to a new method to control and design in-plane solidification at a nanoscale level

Condensation-induced jumping water drops

Water droplets can jump during vapor condensation on solid benzene near its melting point. This phenomenon, which can be viewed as a kind of micro scale steam engine, is studied experimentally and numerically. The latent heat of condensation transferred at the drop three phase contact line melts the substrate during a time proportional to R the drop radius . The wetting conditions change and a spontaneous jump of the drop results in random direction over length 1.5R, a phenomenon that increases the coalescence events and accelerates the growth. Once properly rescaled by the jump length scale, the growth dynamics is, however, similar to that on a solid surface

Inverted Leidenfrost-like Effect during Condensation

Water droplets condensing on solidified phase change materials such as benzene and cyclohexane near their melting point show in-plane jumping and continuous ``crawling'' motion. The jumping drop motion has been tentatively explained as an outcome of melting and refreezing of the materials surface beneath the droplets and can be thus considered as an inverted Leidenfrost-like effect (in the classical case vapor is generated from a droplet on a hot substrate). We present here a detailed investigation of jumping movements using high-speed imaging and static crosssectional cryogenic focused ion beam scanning electron microscope imaging. Our results show that drop motion is induced by a thermocapillary (Marangoni) effect. The in-plane jumping motion can be delineated to occur in two stages. The first stage occurs on a millisecond time scale and comprises melting the substrate due to drop condensation. This results in droplet depinning, partial spreading, and thermocapillary movement until freezing of the cyclohexane film. The second stage occurs on a second time scale and comprises relaxation motion of the drop contact line (change in drop contact radius and contact angle) after substrate freezing. When the cyclohexane film cannot freeze, the droplet continuously glides on the surface, resulting in the crawling motion

Dew condensation on desert beetle skin

Some tenebrionind beetles inhabiting the Namib desert are known for using their body to collect water droplets from wind-blown fogs. We aim to determine whether dew water collection is also possible for desert insects. For this purpose, we investigated the infra-red emissivity, and the wetting and structural properties, of the surface of the elytra of a preserved specimen of Physasterna cribripes (Tenebrionidæ) beetle, where the macro-structure appears as a series of “bumps”, with “valleys” between them. Dew formation experiments were carried out in a condensation chamber. The surface properties (infra-red emissivity, wetting properties) were dominated by the wax at the elytra surface and, to a lower extent, its micro-structure. We performed scanning electron microscope on histological sections and determined the infra-red emissivity using a scanning pyrometer. The emissivity measured (0.95 ± 0.07 between 8–14 μm) was close to the black body value. Dew formation occurred on the insect’s elytra, which can be explained by these surface properties. From the surface coverage of the condensed drops it was found that dew forms primarily in the valleys between the bumps. The difference in droplet nucleation rate between bumps and valleys can be attributed to the hexagonal microstructure on the surface of the valleys, whereas the surface of the bumps is smooth. The drops can slide when they reach a critical size, and be collected at the insect’s mouth

The space gravity environment

It is generally thought that gravity is zero on an object travelling at constant velocity in space. This is not exactly so. We detail in the following those causes that make space gravity not strictly zero