Open Access

ARTICLE

Mechanism of Wettability–Rough Morphology Coupling on Convective Heat Transfer in Nanochannels

Yanfeng Li^1,2, Xiaohui Zhang^1,2,*, Luyang Chen^3,*, Rong Chen⁴, Shan Qing³
1 State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, School of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
2 Yunnan Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Energy Storage Technology, School of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
3 School of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
4 School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
* Corresponding Author: Xiaohui Zhang. Email: ; Luyang Chen. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Microscale Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer, and Phase Change)

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer https://doi.org/10.32604/fhmt.2026.079549

Received 23 January 2026; Accepted 04 March 2026; Published online 01 April 2026

Abstract

Highly integrated micro-nano electronic devices suffer from severe heat dissipation challenges, and flow cooling in nanochannels is an effective solution. During convective heat transfer at liquid-solid interfaces, surface wettability and rough morphology are key parameters governing thermal transport; however, their combined effects remain unclear. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are utilized to examine the synergistic effects of surface wettability and nanopillar arrays on thermal transport and fluid dynamics within nanochannels. The results show that increasing surface hydrophilicity and roughness reduces the thermal slip length and increases the Nusselt number, thereby enhancing heat transfer performance in the nanochannel. From a fluid dynamics standpoint, velocity slip length decreases while the relative friction coefficient increases, signifying greater flow resistance. For the present model, the enhancement in heat transfer induced by increased wettability is significantly greater than that caused by increased roughness, whereas their effects on flow resistance are difficult to distinguish the dominance. At the microscale, increased wettability and roughness facilitate the accumulation of fluid atoms near the liquid-solid interface. The elevated interaction energy between solid platinum atoms and fluid argon atoms is identified as the primary mechanism underlying thermal transport enhancement in nanochannels. This investigation offers valuable insights for the optimized thermal management of micro-nano electronic devices.

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Keywords

Nanochannel; nanopillar arrays; heat transfer; flow resistance; molecular dynamics

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