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<p>The growth of in-plane ice tracks that connect supercooled sessile droplets is a physical phenomenon that accelerates large-scale frost propagation. However, the general mechanism of frost propagation through ice bridging, beyond in-plane ice tracks, remains unexplored. Here we observe the formation of suspended, out-of-plane ice bridges that connect freezing droplets. We identify a morphological transition between in-plane and out-of-plane ice bridging modes, governed by surface wettability. This transition originates from the maximization of the vapour pressure difference between ice and water droplets, which depends on surface wettability-controlled droplet geometry. In contrast to in-plane bridging, the out-of-plane mode retards the local bridging between adjacent droplets and thereby slows overall frost propagation. This behaviour is demonstrated to be consistent across various materials and scales up to metre-sized heat exchangers, where superhydrophobicity is known to suppress frost propagation and improve thermal performance. These findings establish surface wettability as the governing factor for out-of-plane ice bridging dynamics and offer a framework for superhydrophobic surface design in anti-frosting applications.</p>

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Growth and control of suspended ice bridges during sessile droplet freezing

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月28日

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  • Siyan Yang,
  • Fuqiang Chu,
  • Vishwanath Ganesan,
  • Parsa Faghihi,
  • Dalia Ghaddar,
  • Wenbo Zhang,
  • Jiazheng Liu,
  • Jung Bin Yang,
  • Anxu Huang,
  • Kalyan Boyina,
  • Kaushik Chettiar,
  • Sujan Dewanjee,
  • Shayan Aflatounian,
  • Rahat Khan,
  • Paul V. Braun,
  • Jie Feng,
  • Dimos Poulikakos,
  • Nenad Miljkovic

摘要

The growth of in-plane ice tracks that connect supercooled sessile droplets is a physical phenomenon that accelerates large-scale frost propagation. However, the general mechanism of frost propagation through ice bridging, beyond in-plane ice tracks, remains unexplored. Here we observe the formation of suspended, out-of-plane ice bridges that connect freezing droplets. We identify a morphological transition between in-plane and out-of-plane ice bridging modes, governed by surface wettability. This transition originates from the maximization of the vapour pressure difference between ice and water droplets, which depends on surface wettability-controlled droplet geometry. In contrast to in-plane bridging, the out-of-plane mode retards the local bridging between adjacent droplets and thereby slows overall frost propagation. This behaviour is demonstrated to be consistent across various materials and scales up to metre-sized heat exchangers, where superhydrophobicity is known to suppress frost propagation and improve thermal performance. These findings establish surface wettability as the governing factor for out-of-plane ice bridging dynamics and offer a framework for superhydrophobic surface design in anti-frosting applications.