A novel in-situ nanostructure forming route and its application in pool-boiling enhancement

• We propose a novel in-situ nanostructure forming route.
• We investigate the surface characteristics for the formation of nanoporous structure.
• The nanoporous surface shows significant enhancement of boiling heat transfer.
• The improvements of surface wettability and nucleation site density contribute to the enhancement.
• Nanoporous surface maintains good stability in the pool boiling experiment.

Dealloying has been recognized as an effective way to fabricate metallic nanoporous structure. In this experimental study, a novel in-situ nanostructure forming route is proposed, which combines surface alloying and dealloying processes. By controlling the in-situ reaction–diffusion process of surface alloying and the in-situ nano-porosity forming process of dealloying, 3-D well ordered nanoporous copper surface (NPCS) was obtained. The NPCS shows significant enhancement in heat transfer coefficient and reduction in wall superheat compared with those of flat surface in visualization designed pool boiling experiments, which can be attributed to the higher active nucleation site and the improvement in wettability on nanoporous surface. The NPCS presents good stability in chemical composition and 3D nanoporous structure, which indicates a promising prospect for long-term application.