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Why water skitters off sizzling surfaces — and how to stop it

A new kind of surface prevents water droplets from bouncing around at high temperatures.
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  1. Shamini Bundell
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Water droplets on very hot surfaces bounce and skitter around on a thin cushion of water vapour. This phenomenon is known as the Leidenfrost effect and it's something that engineers often want to avoid as it makes water-based cooling systems less efficient.

Now, researchers in Hong Kong have put forward a newly designed surface intended to prevent the bouncing and skittering of the Leidenfrost effect.

Read the full paper here.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00204-5

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