Contact-line behavior in boiling on a heterogeneous surface: Physical insights from diffuse-interface modeling

Capitalizing on the full potential of latent heat of vaporization, boiling is among the most efficient heat transfer schemes. Further enhancement of boiling heat transfer relies on precise control of bubble dynamics, which can be realized on a surface endowed with heterogeneous wettabilities. However, such ordered bubble behavior could fail when the triple-phase contact line gets dislodged from the hydrophilic-hydrophobic border by accelerated bubble expansion. Here, a numerical study of the critical condition for the transition between the pinned- and depinned-contact-line modes is presented.