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Surface science

Freeze in or breeze out

Nature Physics volume 19, pages 609–610 (2023)Cite this article

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Phase-change processes, such as condensation or freezing, are known to compromise a surface’s water-repelling capability. It now turns out that tuning the freezing conditions can enable the spontaneous expulsion of water droplets.

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Fig. 1: Conceptual overview of possible wetting transitions for a freezing droplet initially suspended on a superhydrophobic surface.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Jonathan B. Boreyko

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  1. Jonathan B. Boreyko
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Correspondence to Jonathan B. Boreyko.

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Boreyko, J.B. Freeze in or breeze out. Nat. Phys. 19, 609–610 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-01964-1

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