Microfluidic planar sprays for thermal management in confined spaces
Microfluidic convergent nozzles enable the generation of ultra-thin planar liquid sheets that subsequently atomize into highly controllable sprays, offering a compact and efficient approach for thermal management in confined spaces. By tailoring nozzle geometry and operating conditions, the morphology, breakup dynamics, droplet-size distribution, and cooling footprint of the spray can be precisely controlled. These planar sheet sprays provide localized high heat-flux cooling while occupying significantly smaller volumes than conventional spray systems, making them attractive for electronics cooling, aerospace thermal management, and advanced energy technologies.
Our research combines high-speed imaging, laser-based spray diagnostics, and infrared thermal imaging to investigate the coupled fluid-dynamic and heat-transfer mechanisms governing sheet formation, atomization, and spray impingement cooling. Through experimentally validated scaling frameworks, we aim to establish predictive design methodologies for next-generation compact spray-cooling systems.
Multiscale capillary transport in functional cellulosic materials
We investigate capillary-driven liquid transport in fibrous cellulosic materials and how it can be controlled through surface and microstructural modification. Using plasma treatments to systematically alter surface properties, combined with simultaneous optical and infrared imaging, we resolve both the advancing wetting front and the associated thermal signature of liquid imbibition. These measurements reveal how wettability, capillary forces, and substrate structure jointly govern transient transport. By integrating the experiments with physics-based scaling, we develop predictive relationships that collapse different surface treatments onto a common transport law, providing a framework for engineering liquid transport in porous and functional materials.
Dynamic wetting and phase-change heat transfer
Droplet–surface interactions involve strongly coupled momentum, heat, and mass transport across rapidly evolving interfaces. Our research examines how wetting, surface structure, and thermal conditions control impact dynamics, secondary atomization, evaporation, and crystallization, linking interfacial physics to local heat-transfer behavior.