Heterogeneous Icing Process Under the Influence of Solid-water Interfacial Heat Transfer

In this work, molecular dynamics simulation was employed to study the icing process on a platinum surface under the influence of the solid-water interfacial heat transfer. It is found that the heat transfer can play a significant role in the heterogeneous icing process, particularly for hydrophobic surfaces with weak interfacial bonding. The ice nucleation occurs slowly since the water molecules have to be cooled down by the interfacial heat transfer. However, the ice can grow faster on a surface with the effect of heat transfer, because the water molecules can be re-arranged in ice-like structure during the cooling period. As the interfacial bonding strength increases, the effect of interfacial heat transfer can be neglected, and the icing process can be enhanced, which is attributed to the high free energy barrier and weak diffusion effect. The findings in this paper provide an in-depth understanding of the effect of the interfacial bonding on the heterogeneous icing process.