Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting

Abstract The freezing of water drops on cold solid surfaces is ubiquitous in nature, and generally causes serious technological, engineering, and economic issues in industrial applications. Despite longstanding research efforts, existing knowledge on dropwise freezing is still limited, as this phase...

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Main Authors: Songyuan Zhen, Haoyan Feng, Shiji Lin, Yakang Jin, Zhigang Li, Xu Deng, Elmar Bonaccurso, Longquan Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Advanced Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202410657
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author Songyuan Zhen
Haoyan Feng
Shiji Lin
Yakang Jin
Zhigang Li
Xu Deng
Elmar Bonaccurso
Longquan Chen
author_facet Songyuan Zhen
Haoyan Feng
Shiji Lin
Yakang Jin
Zhigang Li
Xu Deng
Elmar Bonaccurso
Longquan Chen
author_sort Songyuan Zhen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The freezing of water drops on cold solid surfaces is ubiquitous in nature, and generally causes serious technological, engineering, and economic issues in industrial applications. Despite longstanding research efforts, existing knowledge on dropwise freezing is still limited, as this phase‐change phenomenon is always accompanied by complex heat and mass transfer processes. Herein, drop‐freezing phenomena in condensation frosting are investigated under standard laboratory conditions of humidity and pressure, highlighting their distinctions from those under some limiting conditions. Condensate halos consisting of massive tiny droplets are observed to form, grow, and eventually fade in a well‐defined region around freezing supercooled drops on sufficiently hydrophobic surfaces with low thermal conductivities. The detailed halo evolution is very different from that reported previously in ultradry and low ambient pressure environments, and it shows no identifiable effect on the long‐term frost propagation. By combining optical and thermal imaging techniques, this study scrutinizes the halo pattern evolution involving multiphase transitions on timescales from milliseconds to seconds, assesses the halo characteristics at each stage, and elucidates the underlying mechanisms. The work expands the fundamental understanding of complex dropwise freezing dynamics, and relevant findings can provide important guidance for developing anti‐icing/frosting strategies.
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issn 2198-3844
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publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Wiley
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series Advanced Science
spelling doaj-art-3de699b96d4a41a69512a9708434df8d2025-08-20T03:09:08ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-04-011214n/an/a10.1002/advs.202410657Condensate Halos in Condensation FrostingSongyuan Zhen0Haoyan Feng1Shiji Lin2Yakang Jin3Zhigang Li4Xu Deng5Elmar Bonaccurso6Longquan Chen7School of Physics University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu 611731 P. R. ChinaSchool of Physics University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu 611731 P. R. ChinaDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay Kowloon Hong Kong P. R. ChinaSchool of Physics University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu 611731 P. R. ChinaDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay Kowloon Hong Kong P. R. ChinaInstitute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu 610054 P. R. ChinaAIRBUS Central R & T, Materials X 81663 Munich GermanySchool of Physics University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu 611731 P. R. ChinaAbstract The freezing of water drops on cold solid surfaces is ubiquitous in nature, and generally causes serious technological, engineering, and economic issues in industrial applications. Despite longstanding research efforts, existing knowledge on dropwise freezing is still limited, as this phase‐change phenomenon is always accompanied by complex heat and mass transfer processes. Herein, drop‐freezing phenomena in condensation frosting are investigated under standard laboratory conditions of humidity and pressure, highlighting their distinctions from those under some limiting conditions. Condensate halos consisting of massive tiny droplets are observed to form, grow, and eventually fade in a well‐defined region around freezing supercooled drops on sufficiently hydrophobic surfaces with low thermal conductivities. The detailed halo evolution is very different from that reported previously in ultradry and low ambient pressure environments, and it shows no identifiable effect on the long‐term frost propagation. By combining optical and thermal imaging techniques, this study scrutinizes the halo pattern evolution involving multiphase transitions on timescales from milliseconds to seconds, assesses the halo characteristics at each stage, and elucidates the underlying mechanisms. The work expands the fundamental understanding of complex dropwise freezing dynamics, and relevant findings can provide important guidance for developing anti‐icing/frosting strategies.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202410657condensate halocondensation frostingdrop freezingexplosive evaporationheat and mass transfer
spellingShingle Songyuan Zhen
Haoyan Feng
Shiji Lin
Yakang Jin
Zhigang Li
Xu Deng
Elmar Bonaccurso
Longquan Chen
Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting
Advanced Science
condensate halo
condensation frosting
drop freezing
explosive evaporation
heat and mass transfer
title Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting
title_full Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting
title_fullStr Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting
title_full_unstemmed Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting
title_short Condensate Halos in Condensation Frosting
title_sort condensate halos in condensation frosting
topic condensate halo
condensation frosting
drop freezing
explosive evaporation
heat and mass transfer
url https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202410657
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AT haoyanfeng condensatehalosincondensationfrosting
AT shijilin condensatehalosincondensationfrosting
AT yakangjin condensatehalosincondensationfrosting
AT zhigangli condensatehalosincondensationfrosting
AT xudeng condensatehalosincondensationfrosting
AT elmarbonaccurso condensatehalosincondensationfrosting
AT longquanchen condensatehalosincondensationfrosting