Characterization of micro/nanoscale condensation

Among liquid–vapor phase-change processes, condensation exhibits a high heat transfer coefficient because of the large latent heat of water. Therefore, it is widely used not only in water harvesting and desalination, but also in power plants, HVAC systems, vapor chambers, and electronics cooling. Recently, as effective heat rejection has become increasingly important, there has been growing interest in enhancing condensation heat transfer performance. However, condensation is a multiscale phenomenon: it nucleates at the nanoscale and is swept away at the millimeter scale. To improve condensation efficiency, we characterize micro/nanoscale condensation dynamics. Environmental atomic force microscopy (E-AFM), environmental scanning electron microscopy (E-SEM), and optical microscopy are used to measure the dynamics of the early-stage condensation process. Through this approach, we aim to elucidate the optimal condensation nucleation mechanism and ultimately enhance the overall condensation heat transfer coefficient.