Design and construction of rigs for studying surface condensation and creating anodized metal oxide surfaces

Abstract

This thesis details the design and construction of a rig for studying surface condensation and a rig for creating anodized metal oxides (AMOs). The condensation rig characterizes condensation for different surfaces; this is done with the use of known heat transfer principles to calculate characteristic heat fluxes and heat transfer coefficient values. Preliminary results have been shown to follow predictions derived from existing heat transfer principles, and have confirmed existing literature's assertion of increased effectiveness of dropwise condensation over filmwise condensation. The AMO rig fabricates anodized metal oxide surface samples by subjecting wafers coated with thin metal layers to voltage in the presence of acidic electrolytes. Initial fabricated anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) samples have shown to display the characteristic hierarchal nanopore structure of known fabricated AAO in literature. Both the condensation rig and the AMO rig will be used in current and future condensation and superhydrophobic surface research by the Varanasi group in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering.