A comprehensive review of enhancement techniques and mechanisms for boiling heat transfer under electric fields

As the demand for thermal management under extreme heat fluxes increases, achieving simultaneous enhancement of the boiling heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and critical heat flux (CHF) has become a pressing challenge. As an active thermal management technique, electric-field-enhanced boiling features rapid response, low parasitic power consumption, and precise controllability, and has thus attracted extensive research interest. This review outlines the fundamental physical picture of boiling under an electric field, with emphasis on the origin of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) body forces and their role in bubble dynamics. It then systematically summarizes enhancement characteristics in dielectric liquids across three regimes: uniform electric fields, nonuniform electric fields, and strong-field conditions where free-charge effects become significant. The discussion then extends to conductive liquids and composite systems, covering major mechanisms including Maxwell stress, electrowetting, electrolysis, and electric-field-mediated regulation of nanoparticle migration, deposition, and resuspension. From a flow-physics perspective, electric-field-enhanced boiling is governed by the restructuring of bubble dynamics and the near-wall vapor-liquid distribution, while the net enhancement depends sensitively on fluid electrical properties, field configuration, surface morphology, and operating conditions. The paper concludes by highlighting future directions in mechanistic modeling, multiphysics diagnostics, and synergistic structural co-optimization. These directions may provide a useful reference for both fundamental studies and practical design.