Nanodroplet Condensation on Solid Surfaces

Abstract

This paper deals with the condensation of liquid droplets on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. A stochastic mesoscale model based on the theory of fluctuating hydrodynamics and the thermodynamics of a diffuse interface approach shows how direct simulation of the vapour-liquid transition from the nucleation process to droplet hydrodynamics can be achieved. Such simulations explain the role of wettability in filmwise and dropwise condensation regimes and the main limitations of classical nucleation theory.