Droplet bouncing on hierarchical branched nanotube arrays above and below the freezing temperature

Abstract In this work, we investigate the droplet bouncing on the hierarchical branched nanotube (BNT) arrays surface above and below 0 °C. By anodization, we fabricate large-area arrays of BNT with the BNT spacing controlled from adjacent to sparse. We evaluate the influence of the BNT spacing on the droplet bouncing. The adjacently distributed BNT (A-BNT) outperforms the sparsely distributed BNT (S-BNT). We find that the A-BNT can repel up to 3.1 m/s droplet at 20 °C and 2.3 m/s droplet at −18 °C, while the maximum bouncing velocity on the S-BNT is below 2.3 m/s at 20 °C and below 0.9 m/s at −10 °C. For the bouncing on the supercooled A-BNT surface, the droplet bouncing contact time increases as the substrate temperature decreases for the same droplet velocity, while the bouncing contact time decreases as the droplet velocity increases for the same substrate temperature. We discuss the influence of the nanosized air cushion entrapped amid the branched-arms of the BNT on the three-phase contact line on the BNT walls and bouncing performance under supercooled conditions.