Effect of Nano-Fiber Mat on Droplet Formation

Julie KrausResearch Advisor – Professor Alexander YarinMain Graduate Student Advisor – Suman Ray

Why is this important?

• Dropwise condensation has applications in cooling electrical systems

• Retarding dropwise condensation could prevent corrosion of metals

Kelvin Equation

Capillary Tube

Symbols

Bernoulli Equation

If we assume that the liquid is incompressible

Kelvin Equation

Symbols

Capillary Tube

Kelvin Equation

Symbols

Capillary Tube

Ideal Gas Law

Kelvin Equation

Symbols

Capillary Tube

Summery

Capillary Tube

Implications

Rough Surface (nano-fiber mat)Smooth Surface

ElectrospinningPros Cons

• Very consistent fiber thickness

• High quality nano-fiber

• Does not work for every polymer

• Slower than most other nano-fiber fabrication methods

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Liquid Polymer

Taylor Cone

Charged Plate

Copper Nano-fiber Mat

Basic Procedure

Basic Procedure

LED’s

Glare Hoods

Samples Light

Walls of Condensation Chamber

Data

Data Processing

Data Processing

Data Processing

Data Processing

Results

Results

Further Work

1. Testing different types of fibermats

2. Refining of the Matlab code

3. Testing at different temperatures

Questions?

I would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation, EEC-NSF Grant # 1062943