Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Evaporation of Hexane Droplets and Water Droplets on Heated Liquid Gallium Surface

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  • 1. Yanzhao Electric Power Laboratory of North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China
    2. Department of Power Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China
    3. Hebei Key Laboratory of Energy Storage Technology and Integrated Energy Utilization, North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China

Online published: 2026-01-05

Supported by

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51876065), and the Hebei Natural Science Foundation (No. E2025502083).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026

Abstract

Liquid gallium has a super smooth flexible surface. Compared with traditional rigid metal surfaces, the surface roughness of liquid gallium is much smaller. This study investigated the evaporation of hexane nanodroplet and water nanodroplet on heated liquid gallium surfaces through molecular dynamics simulations, and analyzed the influence of interactions between microscopic particles on evaporation process. The findings suggest that during hexane droplet evaporation, the contact angle stays almost constant, whereas the contact radius progressively shrinks, following the constant contact angle (CCA) mode. During water droplet evaporation, the contact radius stays relatively constant, whereas a progressive reduction in the contact angle is observed, which belongs to the constant contact radius (CCR) mode. The difference between these two evaporation modes is ascribed to competition between intermolecular forces near the contact line and intermolecular forces on the liquid surface during the evaporation process. Water exhibits greater surface tension compared to hexane, which suppresses water molecules from escaping across the vapor-liquid interfacial region. The intermolecular forces in the vicinity of the contact line serve to anchor water droplets to the surface. The hydrogen bonds formed between adjacent water molecules further enhance this interaction, leading to the phenomenon of contact line pinning. Compared with water droplets, rapid shrinkage of contact line during hexane droplets evaporation increases fluctuations on flexible liquid gallium surface, thereby accelerating droplet evaporation. The present work offers a reference for applying liquid metal in flexible electronics.

Cite this article

WANG Xilin, LIU Lu, WANG Tai, WANG Teng, DONG Xinyu . Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Evaporation of Hexane Droplets and Water Droplets on Heated Liquid Gallium Surface[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2026 , 35(1) : 315 -328 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-026-2220-z

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