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PROBING HETEROGENEOUS BUBBLE NUCLEATION MECHANISMS VIA TIME-RESOLVED UPCONVERTING NANOPARTICLES LUMINESCENCE THERMOMETRY -BOILING, IN WHICH LIQUID WATER CHANGES INTO VAPOR AND FORMS BUBBLES, IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO REMOVE LARGE AMOUNTS OF HEAT. IT PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN COOLING FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AI COMPUTING CHIPS, DATA CENTERS, ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS, AND HYPERSONIC VEHICLES. UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY HOW VAPOR BUBBLES FORM ON HOT SURFACES COULD LEAD TO IMPROVEMENTS IN THIS COOLING TECHNOLOGY. THE CHALLENGE IS TO MEASURE THE RAPID TEMPERATURE CHANGES THAT OCCUR WHEN A BUBBLE FORMS. THIS PROJECT WILL BUILD A NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM USING LASERS AND SPECIAL NANOPARTICLES THAT LIGHT UP DIFFERENTLY AS TEMPERATURES CHANGE, ALLOWING SCIENTISTS TO MEASURE RAPID CHANGES FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE RESULTING DATA WILL PROVIDE A CLEAR LOOK AT HOW BUBBLES FORM, HELPING ENGINEERS TO DESIGN BETTER COOLING SURFACES FOR NEXT-GENERATION SYSTEMS. FINALLY, THE PROJECT WILL TRAIN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN ADVANCED LIGHT-MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES AND HOST SUMMER PROGRAMS TO ENGAGE K-12 STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. THIS PROJECT WILL HELP UNDERSTAND BUBBLE FORMATION DURING BOILING BY DIRECTLY MEASURING THE LOCAL TEMPERATURE. THE RESEARCH WILL PURSUE THREE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: DEVELOPING AN EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM THAT INTEGRATES CONTROLLED BUBBLE FORMATION WITH HIGH-SPEED NANOSCALE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT; ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE THAT LINKS TEMPERATURE EVOLUTION DURING BUBBLE FORMATION WITH SURFACE PROPERTIES SUCH AS ROUGHNESS AND WETTABILITY; AND DEVELOPING A NEW MECHANISTIC MODEL TO PREDICT THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH BUBBLES FORM. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE OBJECTIVES, THE PROJECT WILL USE ADVANCED NANOENGINEERING AND MICROFABRICATION METHODS TO CREATE WELL-DEFINED MICROSCALE SURFACE FEATURES, INTEGRATE HIGH-SPEED LUMINESCENCE-BASED TEMPERATURE SENSING WITH A SPECIALIZED BOILING FACILITY, AND SYSTEMATICALLY VARY SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS TO DETERMINE HOW THEY AFFECT BUBBLE FORMATION TEMPERATURE. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES WILL PROVIDE NEW EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR THE MECHANISMS GOVERNING BUBBLE FORMATION, ENABLE THE DESIGN OF ENGINEERED SURFACES THAT BETTER CONTROL BOILING AND IMPROVE COOLING PERFORMANCE, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THERMAL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS FOR HIGH HEAT FLUX TECHNOLOGIES IN COMPUTING, ENERGY, AND AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

Project Grant (B) · National Science Foundation · to University of New Mexico (UEI F6XLTRUQJEN4) · data as of 2026-09-30

Source: USAspending.gov prime award transactions and FSRS subaward reports, as loaded by SpendQuery (data as of 2026-09-30). Amounts are obligations (money committed), not outlays. The official record on USAspending.gov ↗