Dai, Xianming (Simon)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/6340
Xianming Dai joined the UT Dallas faculty in 2016 as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He is also the Principal Investigator of the DAI Lab. His research interests include:
- Superhydrophobic surfaces,
- Wetting,
- Micro/Nanofabrication,
- Thermal management,
- Bioinspired materials, and
- Fluid dynamics
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Item Designing Air-Independent Slippery Rough Surfaces for Condensation(Elsevier Ltd, 2019-06-19) Sirohia, Gaurav Kumar; Dai, Xianming; 0000-0001-5050-2867 (Dai, X); 308247739 (Dai, X); Sirohia, Gaurav Kumar; Dai, XianmingEnhancing condensation heat transfer is significant for power generation, heat exchangers, water harvesting, and air-conditioning. While superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) are widely studied for condensation, this type of surface suffers from several weaknesses: (1) the hydrophobic surface chemistry does not favor nucleation, (2) the air lubricant has poor thermal conductivity, and (3) the air pocket may be displaced at an elevated humidity or subcooling. Patterned SHS can enhance vapor nucleation in the hydrophilic domains, but the superhydrophobic domains still rely on the air lubricant, resulting in the same weakness as SHS. Recently, the liquid infused surfaces have been developed by replacing the air lubricant with liquid lubricant, leading to more robust lubrication for liquid repellency. However, the original design of liquid infused surfaces shows a flat lubricant-water interface, which cannot provide a large contact area for heat transfer. Here, we successfully designed and manufactured the air-independent slippery rough surfaces (SRS) by conformal liquid lubrication on the rough solid surfaces. The surface chemistry of the SRS is governed by the liquid lubricant, not the solid textures, and the roughness is determined by the lubricated microtextures. Droplets are highly mobile on this air-independent slippery rough surface in the absence of air lubricant. Our comprehensive models provide rational design and optimization for the air-independent slippery rough surface that is highly desired in condensation heat transfer. © 2019 Elsevier LtdItem Decoupling the Influence of Surface Structure and Intrinsic Wettability on Boiling Heat Transfer(American Institute of Physics Inc.) Dai, Xianming (Simon); Wang, P.; Yang, F.; Li, X.; Li, C.; 0000-0001-5050-2867 (Dai, X); 308247739 (Dai, X; Dai, Xianming (Simon)Surface structure and intrinsic wettability are both important for boiling heat transfer. While superhydrophilic micro, nano, and hierarchical surfaces are widely used for boiling enhancement, in which the surface structure and intrinsic wettability usually couple together. This study aims to decouple their influences on boiling heat transfer. Copper meshes are utilized as the microporous structures, and conformal superhydrophilic films of TiO₂ are deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Although ALD coatings for boiling have been done on flat surfaces, this study separates the influence of surface structure from that of intrinsic wettability on a three-dimensional microporous surface. By comparing two and four layer meshes, we show that the surface structure has no obvious influence on the critical heat flux (CHF), but can significantly enhance the heat transfer coefficient (HTC). The intrinsic superhydrophilicity dramatically increases the CHF due to the fast rewetting of dryout regions. Our conclusion is that fast rewetting is critical to increase the CHF, while large surface areas are vital to enhance the HTC. © 2018 Author(s).