Study on the Enhanced Dropwise Condensation and Water Harvesting Performance of Bioinspired Wedge-Ridge Super-Slippery Surfaces

ZHOU Zhenyu; YAN Zheng; ZHOU Yefei; LIU Cong

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.14.011

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Surface Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (14) : 124-133. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.14.011

Study on the Enhanced Dropwise Condensation and Water Harvesting Performance of Bioinspired Wedge-Ridge Super-Slippery Surfaces

ZHOU Zhenyu, YAN Zheng, ZHOU Yefei, LIU Cong^*

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Abstract

Highly efficient dropwise condensation is essential for applications such as water collection, condensation heat transfer, and seawater desalination. However, the current technical approach to achieve stable and efficient dropwise condensation still mainly relies on the precise micro-nano structure design of the condensation surface, and its preparation process is often complex and costly. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a more simple and easy-to-implement design concept to construct a sustainable dropwise condensation surface, so as to meet the urgent needs of efficient condensation heat transfer and water resource recovery in practical engineering applications. Inspired by the droplet directional transport characteristics of cactus spines and the low adhesion characteristics of droplets on the super-slippery surface of pitcher grass, a bionic wedge-ridge super-slippery surface (WSS) was proposed to enhance droplet condensation. In this study, a super-slippery surface with wedge-shaped ridge structure was successfully prepared on an aluminum alloy substrate by a multi-step process of micro-milling, boiling water etching, low surface energy modification and oil immersion treatment. On this basis, the droplet dynamics behavior and water collection performance of the ordinary planar super-slippery surface (PSS) and the WSS during condensation were systematically studied. The results show that the wedge ridge can realize the directional transport of condensed droplets, thus accelerating the merging and growth of condensed droplets. At the same time, the low adhesion characteristics of the super-slippery interface effectively reduce the detachment size of the condensed droplets, and the above characteristics together realize the surface dropwise condensation enhancement. Detailed analysis shows that this directional transport is driven by the Laplace pressure gradient formed in the wedge structure, which provides a driving force for the droplet to move from the tip of the wedge ridge to the root. The droplet transmission velocity is affected by the wedge angle (α). When α = 6°, the maximum instantaneous velocity is 32.48 mm/s and the average velocity is 11.44 mm/s. At the same time, the condensed droplets can even be transported against gravity under the action of Laplace force. This phenomenon further proves the effectiveness of the droplet driving mechanism of the proposed WSS, indicating that the surface can provide a controllable and robust transport path for the condensed droplets, thus playing a key role in the droplet condensation enhancement process. In addition, WSS has a larger vapor diffusion flux channel than a planar surface, which is conducive to the nucleation and growth of droplets. Parameters such as increased subcooling (ΔT) and larger ridge height (h) have been shown to increase the droplet growth rate on WSS. Through water collection experiments, the significant advantages of WSS enhanced condensation were further proved. When the wet air temperature was 13.7 ℃, the air humidity was 95.7%, and the sample surface temperature was (1 ± 0.1) ℃, the corresponding ΔT=12 ℃, the average water collection rate of the WSS was 1.9 times that of the PSS. The WSS proposed by imitating the interface characteristics of the cactus thorn and the pitcher grass super-slippery surface can achieve efficient dropwise condensation. This basic cognition and innovative design method can be widely used in various water collection systems and phase change heat transfer devices.

Key words

condensation / super-slippery surfaces / wedge-shaped ridge / directional transport / droplet coalescence / water collection

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ZHOU Zhenyu, YAN Zheng, ZHOU Yefei, LIU Cong. Study on the Enhanced Dropwise Condensation and Water Harvesting Performance of Bioinspired Wedge-Ridge Super-Slippery Surfaces[J]. Surface Technology. 2026, 55(14): 124-133

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (52305220); Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (E2024203164); Science Research Project of Hebei Education Department (BJ2026054); Opening Project of the Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University (KF202506)