Evaporation of Drops on Sessile Oil Infused Surfaces

The evaporation of droplets is a crucial phenomenon with wide-ranging applications, from power generation to water purification, and even extends to myriad natural processes. Recently, the adoption of liquid-infused silicon surfaces (LIS) has increased, driven by their ability to reduce contact angle hysteresis, enhance droplet mobility, and modulate heat transfer in multiphase processes [1]. Surprisingly, few studies have explored the evaporation dynamics of drops on such surfaces. Herein, we study how water and organic liquids evaporate on oil-infused surfaces under identical environmental conditions. We study the role of infused oil’s physical properties in affecting drop evaporation. Moreover, theoretical models of mass diffusion have been developed and compared with the experimental study, which sheds light on the effect of oil properties on mass transfer behavior. Our study on droplet evaporation kinetics deepens the understanding of the evaporation phenomenon and could have significant implications for numerous applications, including distillation and evaporative cooling.