Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 226, 1189-1198 (2017)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60132-3

Regular Article

Dynamics of water condensation over arrays of hydrophilic patches^*

¹ Universidad de Navarra, Facultad de Ciencias, Pamplona, Spain
² Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Calle Antofagasta 1520, Casilla 7D, Arica, Chile
³ Universidad de Navarra, Complex Systems Group, Pamplona, Spain
⁴ Universidad de Navarra, PHYSMED Group, Pamplona, Spain

^a e-mail: wens@unav.es

Received: 29 June 2016
Revised: 16 August 2016
Published online: 2 May 2017

Abstract

We report experimental results of drop-wise condensation on a wettability patterned substrate. It consists of a 2-d array of hydrophilic patches/spots on a macroscopically hydrophobic surface. We show that in this kind of system, there is not a relevant humidity sink, but the scale and the closeness of the different patches/spots affect the mechanisms which are important during the experiment. These results may provide clues to obtain higher dew yields in arid or semi-arid regions as a way to obtain potable water.