Enhanced water capture induced with electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) approach

Run Yan, Thomas S. McClure, Ibrahem H. Jasim, Akshay Kumar Reddy Koppula, Sheng Wang, Mahmoud Almasri, Chung-Lung Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

An electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) device that enhances water capturing capability for condensation applications is presented. A single planar EWOD device is fabricated for testing and placed in a high-humidity environment under mist flow. By applying an electric field to portions of the device, the wettability of the affected areas is altered from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, which promotes droplet nucleation and growth, thereby improving water capturing capability. The results of this study demonstrate that droplet coalescence is appreciably improved at the moments of plugging and unplugging DC voltage, which induces wipe-down events (when a droplet drips down the surface and removes all droplets underneath it). The improvement in water capturing capability under DC voltages of 20 V, 40 V, and 60 V is also investigated both by comparing the mass of water collected on uncharged and charged devices during the same testing period and by using an image processing approach to track changes in droplet area coverage over time. The EWOD effect was shown to improve water capturing capability for the 20 V, 40 V, and 60 V cases by 138.96%, 171.87%, and 220.43%, respectively. These results are of great significance as they indicate a strong possibility for improvement in water harvesting applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number204101
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume113
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Nov 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Enhanced water capture induced with electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) approach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this