Leidenfrost Points Tuned via Surface Coating and Structures

A quantitative relationship between Leidenfrost point and surface characteristics such as surface material and roughness is investigated. Based on the relationship, we have fabricated the surfaces with their Leidenfrost points (LFP) tuned by controlling surface coating and structures. As discovered by Leidenfrost, liquids placed on a hot plate levitate on the gas phase-air gap formed by the vaporization of liquids. This phenomenon is called 'Leidenfrost effect'. A change of LFP has attracted many researchers for several years but the ability to tune LFP is still a remaining issue. Many of previous work has progressed for various conditions so the systematic approach and analysis are needed to clearly correlate the LFP and the surface conditions. In this report, we investigate a relation of surface energy and LFP using various coating materials such as Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (FOTS). Also, we analyze how surface roughness affects LFP via surface micro structuring with ICP-RIE fabrication process. The improved understanding can have potential applications such as the control of liquid droplet behavior at elevated temperatures for efficient cooling system.