Percolation-induced frost formation

¹ Department of Physics and Applied Mathematics, University of Navarra - Pamplona, Spain, EU
² Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, Unité Mixte de Recherches 7636, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris-Diderot - 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris, France, EU
³ Equipe du Supercritique pour l'Environnement, les Matériaux et l'Espace, Service des Basses Températures, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique-Grenoble - 17, rue des Martyrs, 38504 Grenoble, France, EU

Received: 13 November 2012
Accepted: 2 January 2013

Abstract

We report the observation of an unconventional mechanism for frost formation. On a smooth hydrophobic surface cooled much below the water freezing temperature (−9 °C), we find that, instead of the classical freezing of individual supercooled condensed droplets, frost can occur through a multi-step 2-dimensional percolation-driven mechanism. This in-plane propagation process provides a model to investigate more complex bulk phase transformations such as those occurring in atmospheric supercooled clouds. It can also lead to a new method to control and design in-plane solidification at a nanoscale level.