Strongly accelerated and humidity-independent drying of nanochannels induced by sharp corners

Eijkel, J.C.T. and Dan, B. and Reemeijer, H.W. and Hermes, D.C. and Bomer, J.G. and Berg van den, A. (2005) Strongly accelerated and humidity-independent drying of nanochannels induced by sharp corners. Physical Review Letters, 95 (25). p. 256107. ISSN 0031-9007

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Abstract:	Measurements are shown indicating that the drying rate of nanochannels can be enhanced by up to 3 orders of magnitude relative to drying by vapor diffusion, and that the drying rate is independent of the relative humidity of the environment up to a relative humidity of more than 90%. Micromachined Pyrex glass nanochannels of 72 nm height and with sharp corners (corner angles 7 degrees) were used. Available theory shows that the sharp corners function as a low-resistance pathway for liquid water, siphoning (wicking) the water to a location close to the channel exit before it evaporates. The described phenomena are of importance for the understanding of drying processes in industry and agriculture. The introduction of sharp corners or grooves can furthermore be beneficial for the functioning of microheat pipes and capillary-pumped loops.
Item Type:	Article
Copyright:	© 2005 The American Physical Society
Faculty:	Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)
Research Group:	Biomedical and Environmental Sensor systems (BIOS)
Link to this item:	http://purl.utwente.nl/publications/54328
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.256107
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