Aerospace vehicles, such as aero-engines and supersonic vehicles, are pursuing higher thrust and propulsion efficiency. Thermal management is essential to guarantee normal operation and long duration. We utilize advanced cooling structures, including narrow impingement cooling, novel short fan-shaped holes, and thin-walled effusion cooling system, to enhance the gas turbine working temperature and thereby the cycle efficiency/power output. We also make use of advanced manufacturing manners (additive manufacturing) and advanced materials (high-entropy alloy) to optimize the cooling systems.
Interfacial materials and sophisticated textured surfaces tune interfacial phase change phenomena, such as condensation, boiling, and freezing. In this branch, we aim to reveal icing and frosting dynamics under extreme environmental conditions. moreover, we introduce an alternative approach employing sunlight by rationally engineering solar absorbing surface that induces localized heating to significantly delay the onset of surface icing/fogging or mitigate surface icing/fogging.
Emerging nanomaterials enable new designs of thermal devices targeting low carbon emission and carbon neutrality. We synthesize and process nanomaterials and apply them to energy-saving scenarios, e.g., solar energy harvesting, radiative cooling, and smart windows for energy-efficient buildings. We aim to fabricate thermal coatings or devices in scalable and feasible manners and contribute to decarbonization and environmental protection.