The Leidenfrost Phenomena: Thermocapillary Effect, Suppression Methods, and Applications

My research focuses on the applications and suppression methods of the Leidenfrost effect, a phenomenon wherein a continuous vapor layer is formed beneath a droplet placed atop a superheated substrate. In the applications, we demonstrated the effectiveness of the vapor layer in controlling the vibration transmission and also in impeding the heat transfer across a liquid-mediated thermal switch. In the suppression methods, we shifted the Leidenfrost effect to occur at higher substrate temperature, by generating high frequency acoustic wave in the droplet and inducing low frequency vibrations on the heated substrate.