中国物理B ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (3): 34701-034701.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ae3234

所属专题: SPECIAL TOPIC — Heat conduction and its related interdisciplinary areas

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Effects of surface roughness and wettability on bubble nucleation of water containing insoluble gas: A molecular dynamics study

Sicheng Zhang(张思程), Mian Yu(余绵), Bingheng Li(李丙衡), Lianxiang Ma(马连湘), and Yuanzheng Tang(唐元政)†   

  1. College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China
  • 收稿日期:2025-11-05 修回日期:2025-12-22 接受日期:2025-12-31 出版日期:2026-02-11 发布日期:2026-03-10
  • 通讯作者: Yuanzheng Tang E-mail:tangyuanzheng@163.com
  • 基金资助:
    This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52176077).

Effects of surface roughness and wettability on bubble nucleation of water containing insoluble gas: A molecular dynamics study

Sicheng Zhang(张思程), Mian Yu(余绵), Bingheng Li(李丙衡), Lianxiang Ma(马连湘), and Yuanzheng Tang(唐元政)†   

  1. College of Electromechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China
  • Received:2025-11-05 Revised:2025-12-22 Accepted:2025-12-31 Online:2026-02-11 Published:2026-03-10
  • Contact: Yuanzheng Tang E-mail:tangyuanzheng@163.com
  • Supported by:
    This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52176077).

摘要: As heat dissipation in micro- and nanoelectronic devices has become a critical bottleneck limiting performance improvement, microscale boiling has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Bubble nucleation in water containing nitrogen as an insoluble gas on copper surfaces with varying roughness and wettability is systematically investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results show that increasing surface roughness significantly enhances bubble nucleation by providing additional nucleation sites. The characteristic time of bubble nucleation in water containing insoluble gas decreases with reduced surface hydrophilicity, which differs markedly from previous MD studies of boiling in pure water. This finding suggests that enhanced adsorption of insoluble gas on hydrophobic surfaces facilitates bubble nucleation, in good agreement with experimental observations. These results provide valuable theoretical insights into microscale boiling heat transfer and offer guidance for optimizing thermal management in micro- and nanoelectronic systems.

关键词: bubble nucleation, molecular dynamics, roughness, wettability, insoluble gas

Abstract: As heat dissipation in micro- and nanoelectronic devices has become a critical bottleneck limiting performance improvement, microscale boiling has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Bubble nucleation in water containing nitrogen as an insoluble gas on copper surfaces with varying roughness and wettability is systematically investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results show that increasing surface roughness significantly enhances bubble nucleation by providing additional nucleation sites. The characteristic time of bubble nucleation in water containing insoluble gas decreases with reduced surface hydrophilicity, which differs markedly from previous MD studies of boiling in pure water. This finding suggests that enhanced adsorption of insoluble gas on hydrophobic surfaces facilitates bubble nucleation, in good agreement with experimental observations. These results provide valuable theoretical insights into microscale boiling heat transfer and offer guidance for optimizing thermal management in micro- and nanoelectronic systems.

Key words: bubble nucleation, molecular dynamics, roughness, wettability, insoluble gas

中图分类号:  (Molecular dynamics methods)

  • 47.11.Mn
47.55.dd (Bubble dynamics) 68.35.Ct (Interface structure and roughness) 61.30.Hn (Surface phenomena: alignment, anchoring, anchoring transitions, surface-induced layering, surface-induced ordering, wetting, prewetting transitions, and wetting transitions)