Acoustothermal Atomization of Water Nanofilms
Pillai R, Borg MK, Reese JM, Physical Review Letters 121 :104502 (2018).
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EPSRC, RAEng

Abstract

We report nonequilibrium molecular simulations of the vibration-induced heating of nanoscale-thick water layers on a metal substrate. In addition to experimentally confirmed acoustothermal evaporation, we observe hitherto unmapped nucleate and film boiling regimes, accompanied by the generation of unprecedented heat fluxes [∼O(10^9) W/m^2]. We develop a universal scaling parameter to classify the heat-transfer regimes and to predict the thickness of the residual nonevaporating liquid layer. The results find broad application to systems involving drying, coatings, and sprays.