Frosting and defrosting on rigid superhydrohobic surface

Abstract

Lotus leaves, which have superhydrophobic surfaces, have been extensively studied as a result of their extreme water repellency. Lotus leaves are liable to lose their superhydrophobicity when water condenses or frost forms and then melts on their surfaces. We have performed experiments to investigate the frosting and defrosting phenomena on various surfaces having differing wetting properties, ranging from superhydrophobicity to superhydrophilicity and including two kinds of superhydrophobic surface. Both flexible and rigid superhydrophobic surface have advantage of anti-frosting. However, only on the rigid superhydrophobic surface is defrosting effective without any water droplets. Therefore, the rigid superhydrophobic surface is most effective in defrosting and against frosting. Our results widen the potential applications of superhydrophobic surfaces and increase our understanding of water behavior at surfaces. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.