(IMAGE)
Caption
(a) A STA consists of an array of thick pillars acting as thermal bridges and holding an insulating superhydrophilic membrane that wicks the incoming liquid. This membrane is positioned so as to create channels that can evacuate the vapour (purple arrows). (b) The membrane is made of nanometric silica fibres that are capable of resisting temperatures of up to approximately 1,200°C. (c) High-speed side and top views of water drops (dyed in orange and having a volume of 17 μl) contacting Sample A (no membrane), Sample B (no channel) and Sample C (STA), all brought to 1,000 °C. Water on Sample C gets constantly pinned and sucked by the membrane, which leads to a lifetime of 0.33s, approximately 50 times smaller than that on Samples A & B.
Credit
Jiang, M., Wang, Y., Liu, F. et al. / DOI number: 10.1038/s41586-021-04307-3
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