4/8/2022 2 min read
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MechSE doctoral candidate Jingcheng Ma is getting recognized for his research on achieving stable dropwise condensation using ultra-thin and durable water-repellent coatings. A paper he co-authored was named one of the top 25 most read articles in Nature Communications in 2021 – among more than 7,300 papers published by the journal that year.
“Ultra-thin self-healing vitrimer coatings for durable hydrophobicity,” of which Ma is a co-first author, was included in the chemistry and materials sciences category of the journal. The recognition is fitting, as the paper is based on the main chapter of his PhD thesis, for which he is also receiving a departmental honor – the Stanley I. Weiss Outstanding Thesis Award.
The article focuses on a thin, durable, and fluorine-free PDMS-based vitrimer coating that implements energy efficiency, durability, and sustainability—presenting a new response to hydrophobic coating challenges.
Additional authors include Laura E. Porath, Md Farhadul Haque, Soumyadip Sett, Kazi Fazle Rabbi, University of California Irvine Professor SungWoo Nam, MechSE Professor Nenad Miljkovic, and Materials Science and Engineering Professor Christopher Evans.
“We are happy that this article is popular among the broad readership of Nature Communications and excited that the durability of heat transfer coatings is receiving attention by the research community. More collective efforts need to be made to eventually deploy dropwise condensation in real steam-based power plants,” Ma said.
Ma is co-advised by Miljkovic and MatSE Professor David Cahill. He will graduate from Illinois this May with his PhD in mechanical engineering and continue his research as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago.