Publication
2025
Pinning-Induced Microdroplet Self-Transport
Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Chang, H. C., Zhang, L., and N. Miljkovic
ACS Nano, 19 (11), 11049–11057, 2025
2023
Design Considerations for Next-Generation Sorbent-Based Atmospheric Water Harvesting Devices
Wilson, C. T., Cha, H., Zhong, Y., Li, A., Lin, E., and El Fil, B.
Device, 1 (2), 10052, 2023
Ultra-resilient multi-layer fluorinated diamond like carbon hydrophobic surfaces
Hoque, M.J., Li, L., Ma, J., Cha, H., Sett, S., Yan, X., Rabbi, K. F., Ho, J. Y., Khodakarami, S., Suwala, J., Mohammadmoradi, O., Ince, G. O., and Miljkovic, N.
Nature Communications, 14, 4902, 2023
Capillary Transfer of Self-Assembled Colloidal Crystals
Díaz-Marín, C. D., Li, D., Vázquez-Cosme, F. J., Pajovic, S., Cha, H., Song, Y., Kilpatrick, C., Vaartstra, G., Wilson, C. T., Boriskina, S., and Wang, E. N.
Nano Letters, 23 (5), 1888–1896, 2023
2022
Three-Tier Hierarchical Structures for Extreme Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Performance
Song, Y., Díaz‐Marín, C. D., Zhang, L., Cha, H., Zhao, Y., and Wang, E. N.
Advanced Materials, 34 (32), 2200899, 2022
Highlighted in MIT News, MIT Climate Portal, MIT Sustainability, SciTechDaily, Interesting Engineering, etc.
Enhancement of Boiling with Scalable Sandblasted Surfaces
Song, Y., Wang, C., Preston, D. J., Su, G., Rahman, M. M., Cha, H., Seong, J. H., Philips, B., Bucci, M., and Wang, E. N.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 14 (7), 9788-9794, 2022
The Apparent Surface Free Energy of Rare Earth Oxides is Governed by Hydrocarbon Adsorption
Oh, J., Orejon, D., Park, W., Cha, H., Sett, S., Yokoyama, Y., Thoréton, V., Takata, Y., and Miljkovic, N.
iScience, 25 (1), 103691, 2022
2021
Alteration of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer on Metallic Surfaces by In Situ Oxidation
Song, Y., Cha, H., Liu, Z., Seong, J. H., Zhang, L., Preston, D. J., and Wang, E. N.
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 185, 122320, 2021
Lubricant-Infused Surfaces for Low Surface Tension Fluids: Extent of Lubricant Miscibility
Sett, S., Oh, J., Cha, H., Veriotti, T., Bruno, A., Yan, X., Barac, G., Bolton, L., and Miljkovic, N.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13 (19), 23121-23133, 2021
2020
Enhanced Condensation on Liquid-Infused Nanoporous Surfaces by Vibration-Assisted Droplet Sweeping
Oh, I., Cha, H., Chen, J., Chavan, S., Awad, A., Darwish, O., Miljkovic, N., and Hu, Y.
ACS Nano, 14 (10), 13367–13379, 2020
Electrothermal Soft Manipulator Enabling Rapid Transport and Handling of Thin Biological Sheets and Electronic Devices
Kim, B. S., Kim, M. K., Cho, Y., Hamed, E. E., Gillette, M. U., Cha, H., Miljkovic, N., Aakalu, V. K., Kang, K., Son, K. N., Schachtschneider, K. M., Schook, L. B., Hu, C., Popescu, G., Balance, W. C., Yu, S., Im, S. G., Lee, J., Lee, C. H., and Kong, H.
Science Advances, 6 (42), eabc5630, 2020
Highlighted in Illinois News Bureau, IMechE, Medical Design Briefs, Nanotechnology Now, E&T Magazine, etc.
Breaking Droplet Jumping Energy Conversion Limits with Superhydrophobic Microgrooves
Peng, Q., Yan, X., Li, J., Li, L., Cha, H., Ding, Y., Dang, C., Li, J., and Miljkovic, N.
Langmuir, 36 (21), 9510-9522, 2020
Recent Developments, Challenges, and Pathways to Stable Dropwise Condensation: A Perspective
Ma, J., Sett, S., Cha, H., Yang, X., and Miljkovic, N.
Applied Physics Letters, 116, 260501, 2020
APL’s Most Cited Research
Atmosphere-Mediated Scalable and Durable Biphilicity on Rationally Designed Structured Surfaces
Yan, X., Chen, F., Zhang, X., Qin, Y., Zhao, C., Sett, S., Cha, H., Hoque, M. J., Zhao, F., Huang, Z., and Miljkovic, N.
Advanced Materials Interfaces, 7 (13), 2000475, 2020
High-Throughput Stamping of Hybrid Functional Surfaces
Hoque, M. J., Yan, X., Keum, H., Li, L., Cha, H., Park, J. K., Kim, S., and Miljkovic, N.
Langmuir, 36 (21), 5730–5744, 2020
Dropwise condensation on Solid Hydrophilic Surfaces
Cha, H.*, Vahabi, H.*, Wu, A., Chavan, S., Kim, M.-K., Wang, W., Kota, A. K., and Miljkovic
*Equal Contribution
Science Advances, 6 (2), eaax0746, 2020
Highlighted in Illinois News Bureau, UIUC MechSE News, EurekAlert!, Science Daily, Phys.org, Bioengineer.org, AZoM, NCYT, etc.
2019
In Situ Droplet Microgoniometry Using Optical Microscopy
Cha, H., Ma, J., Kim, Y. S., Li, L., Sun, L., Tong, J., and Miljkovic, N.
ACS Nano, 13 (11), 113343-13353, 2019
Condensation Induced Delamination of Nanoscale Hydrophobic Films
Ma, J., Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Cahill, D. G., and Miljkovic, N.
Advanced Functional Materials, 29 (43), 1905222, 2019
Ultra-scalable multifunctional nanoengineered copper and aluminum for anti-adhesion and bactericidal applications
Reed, J., Gonsalves, A. E., Román, J. K., Oh, J., Cha, H., Dana, C. E., Toc, M. A., Hong, S., Hoffman, J. B., Andrade, J. E., Jo, K. D., Alleyne, M., Miljkovic, N., and Cropek, D. M.
ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2 (7), 2726-2737, 2019
Atmospheric-Mediated Superhydrophobicity of Rationally Designed Micro/Nanostructured Surfaces
Yan, X., Huang, Z., Sett, S., Oh, J., Cha, H., Li, L., Feng, L., and Miljkovic, N.
ACS Nano, 13 (4), 4160-4173, 2019
2017
Nanoscale-Agglomerate-Mediated Heterogeneous Nucleation
Cha, H., Wu, A., Kim, M.-K., Saigusa, K., Liu, A., and Miljkovic, N.
Nano Letters, 17 (12), 7544-7551, 2017
Focal Plane Shift Imaging for the Analysis of Multi-Droplet Jumping
Cha, H., Chun, J. M., Xu, Y., and Miljkovic, N.
Journal of Heat Transfer, 139 (2), 020903, 2017
2016
Coalescence-induced nanodroplet jumping
Cha, H., Xu, C., Sotelo, J., Chun, J. M., Yokoyama, Y., Enright, R., and Miljkovic, N.
Physical Review Fluids, 1 (6), 064102, 2016
Focal Plane Shift Imaging for the Analysis of Dynamic Wetting Processes
Cha, H., Chun, J. M., Sotelo, J., and Miljkovic, N.
ACS Nano, 10 (9), 8223-8232, 2016
Heat Transfer through a Condensate Droplet on Hydrophobic and Nanostructured Superhydrophobic Surfaces
Chavan, S., Cha, H., Orejon, D., Nawaz, K., Singla, N., Yeung, Y.-F., Park, D., Kang, D. H., Chang, Y., Takata, Y., and Miljkovic, N.
Langmuir, 32 (31), 7774-7787, 2016
2015
Enhanced Jumping-Droplet Departure
Kim, M.-K., Cha, H., Birbarah, P., Chavan, S., Zhong, C., Xu, Y., and Miljkovic, N.
Langmuir, 31 (49), 13452-13466, 2015
Solution-Mediated Selective Nanosoldering of Carbon Nanotube Junctions for Improved Device Performance
Do, J., Chang, N. N., Estrada, D., Lian, F., Cha, H., Duan, X. J., Haasch, R. T., Pop, E., Girolami, G. S., and Lyding, J. W.
ACS Nano, 9 (5), 4806–4813, 2015
Highlighted in Illinois News Bureau, UIUC ECE News, Communications of the ACM, and Nanowerk.
Book Chapters
Cha, H., Sett, , Birbarah, P., Gebrael, T., Oh, J. and Miljkovic, N., Recent Advances in Structured-Surface-Enhanced Condensation Heat Transfer, Nanoscale Energy Transport: Emerging phenomena, methods and applications, Chapter 13, IOP Publishing, 2020
Conference Proceedings
2026
Metta, S. and Cha, H., A Priori Deep Learning Framework to Predict Pool Boiling Heat Transfer, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 26 – 29, 2026. Accepted.
Metta, S. and Cha, H., Investigation of Active Nucleation Site Density to Predict Pool Boiling Heat Transfer, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 26 – 29, 2026. Accepted.
Guo, M., Ely, J., and Cha, H., Heat and Mass Transfer of Pinning-Induced Self-Propelling Droplets, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 26 – 29, 2026. Accepted.
Al-Kayyali, O. and Cha, H., Electric-Field-Enhanced Control of Ionic Transport and Crystallization in Evaporating Sessile Electrolyte Microdroplets, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 26 – 29, 2026. Accepted.
Metta, S. and Cha, H., Investigation of Active Nucleation Site Density to Predict Pool Boiling Heat Transfer, 12th International Conference on Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 14 – 17, 2026.
2024
Cha, H., Zhang, Y., Zhong, Y., Lu, Z., Song, Y., Wyttenbach, M. Z., White, A. J., and Leonard, J., Machine Learning Assisted Models for Predicting and Optimizing Boiling Heat Transfer on Scalable Random Surfaces, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Portland, Oregon, November 17 – 21, 2024. Invited Talk.
Song, Y., Zhang, L., Diaz-Marin, C., Cha, H., and Wang, E., Scaling for Critical Heat Flux During Pool Boiling of Micropillared and Sandblasted Surfaces, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Anaheim, California, July 15 – 17, 2024.
El Fil, B., Li, X., Diaz-Martin, C., Cole, L., Mooney, J., Keisar, D., Cha, H., and Graeber, G., Design and Demonstration of a High Energy Density Hydrogel-Based Thermal Energy Storage Device, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, October 27 – 31, 2024.
2023
Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Chang, H. C., Zhang, L., and Miljkovic, N., Pinning-Induced Microdroplet Self-Propulsion, Micro Flow and Interfacial Phenomena Conference, Evanston, Illinois, June 18 – 21, 2023.
2022
Cha, H., Song, Y., Zhong, Y., Deshpande, S., Stephenson, W., Zhang, Y., Leonard, J., Broderick, T., and Wang, E. N., Machine Learning Assisted Models for Understanding and Optimizing Boiling Heat Transfer on Scalable Random Surfaces, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting & Exhibition, Boston, Massachusetts, November 27 – December 2, 2022.
Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Chang, H. C., Zhang, L., Wang, E. N., and Miljkovic, N., Pinning-Induced Evaporating Droplet Self-Propulsion, 75th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics (APS DFD), Indianapolis, Indiana, November 20 – 22, 2022.
Cha, H., Song, Y., Zhong, Y., Deshpande, S., Stephenson, W., Zhang, Y., Leonard, J., Broderick, T., and Wang, E. N., Machine Learning Assisted Models for Understanding and Optimizing Boiling Heat Transfer on Scalable Random Surfaces, ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, Denver, Colorado, May 23 – 25, 2022.
Song, Y., Cha, H., Liu, Z., Seong, J. H., Zhang, L., Preston, D. J., and Wang, E. N., Alteration in Pool Boiling Heat Transfer of Metallic Surfaces by Oxidation during Boiling, 7th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 15 – 18, 2022, 2022.
2021
Song, Y., Diaz-Martin, C. D., Cha, H., Zhang, L., and E. N. Wang, Hierarchical microtube structures for pool boiling heat transfer enhancement, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting & Exhibit, Virtual, December 6 – 8, 2021.
Cha, H., Song, Y., Zhong, Y., Wyttenbach, M. Z., Deshpande, S., Stephenson, W., Zhang, Y., Leonard, J., Broderick, T., and Wang, E. N., Machine Learning Assisted Models for Understanding and Optimizing Boiling Heat Transfer on Scalable Random Surfaces, MIT Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 8, 2021.
Song, Y., Gong, S., Vaartstra, G., Cha, H., and Wang, E. N., Separation of Liquid and Vapor Paths During Pool Boiling on Hemi-Wicking Surfaces, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Virtual, June 16 – 18, 2021.
Cha, H., Song, Y., Zhong, Y., Deshpande, S., Stephenson, W., Zhang, Y., Leonard, J., Broderick, T., and Wang, E. N., Machine Learning Assisted Models for Understanding and Optimizing Boiling Heat Transfer on Scalable Random Surfaces, ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, Virtual, May 24 – 27, 2021.
2019
Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Chang, H. C., and Miljkovic, N., Spontaneous Evaporation-Driven Droplet Sliding on Hydrophobic Surfaces, Micro and Nanoscale Phase Change Heat Transfer Gordon Research Conference – The Effects of Hydrodynamic, Interfacial and Intermolecular Forces on Phase Change Processes, Lucca, Italy, February 3 – 8, 2019.
Ma, J., Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Cahill, D., and Miljkovic, N., The origins of condensation-driven degradation of hydrophobic thin films, Micro and Nanoscale Phase Change Heat Transfer Gordon Research Conference – The Effects of Hydrodynamic, Interfacial and Intermolecular Forces on Phase Change Processes, Lucca, Italy, February 3 – 8, 2019.
2018
Cha, H., Vahabi, H., Wu, A., Chavan, S., Kota, A. K., and Miljkovic, N., The Role of Surface Wettability on Dropwise Condensation, 6th Micro and Nano Flows Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, September 9 – 12, 2018.
Kim, M.-K., Kim, E. C., Ahn, J., Kim, Y. S., Cha, H., and Miljkovic, N., Condensation Limits on Biphilic Surfaces, 6th Micro and Nano Flows Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, September 9 – 12, 2018.
Yan, X., Chen, F., Sett, S., Feng, L., Oh, J., Cha, H., Li, L., Huang, Z., and Miljkovic, N., Coalescence-Induced Droplet Jumping on Hydrophilic Nanoengineered Surfaces” 16th International Heat Transfer Conference, Beijing, China, August 10 – 15, 2018.
Wu, A., Vahabi, H., Cha, H., Chavan, S., Kota, A. K., and Miljkovic, N., Dropwise Condensation on Hydrophilic Surfaces, 10th International Conference on Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer, Nagasaki, Japan, March 12 – 15, 2018.
Cha, H., Wu, A., Kim, M.-K., Saigusa, K., Liu, A., Orejon, D., and Miljkovic, N., Nanoscale-Agglomerate-Mediated Heterogeneous Nucleation, 10th International Conference on Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer, Nagasaki, Japan, March 12 – 15, 2018.
2017
Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Yang, J., Wu, A., and Miljkovic, N., Spontaneous Evaporating Microdroplet Sliding on Hydrophobic Surfaces, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 9 – 14, 2017.
Cha, H., Kim, M.-K., Lee, S., Wu, A., and Miljkovic, N., Agglomerate-Deposition-Mediated Heterogeneous Nucleation during Atmospheric Water Vapor Condensation, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 9 – 14, 2017.
Cha, H., Lee, S., Chun, J. M., and Miljkovic, N., Focal Plane Shift Imaging for the Measurement of Contact Angles, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 9 – 14, 2017.
Wu, A., Cha, H., and Miljkovic, N., Droplet Impact Induced Degradation of Hydrophobic Coatings, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 9 – 14, 2017.
Cha, H., Xu, C., Sotelo, J., Chun, J. M., Yokoyama, Y., Enright, R., and Miljkovic, N., Nanodroplet Jumping on Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Micro and Nanoscale Phase Change Heat Transfer Gordon Research Conference – Fundamental Mechanisms to Applications of Phase Change Heat Transfer, Galveston, Texas, January 8 – 13, 2017.
2016
Cha, H., Chun, J. M., and Miljkovic, N., Focal Plane Shift Imaging for the Analysis of Jumping-Droplet Condensation, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Washington, DC, July 10 – 14, 2016.
Cha, H., Xu, C., Chun, J. M., Ye, M. Y., and Miljkovic, N., Coalescence-Induced Water Nanodroplet Jumping on Superhydrophobic Surfaces, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Washington, DC, July 10 – 14, 2016.
Cha, H., Chun, J. M., Xu, Y., and Miljkovic, N., Multi-Droplet Coalescence-Induced Droplet-Jumping on Superhydrophobic Surfaces, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, Washington, DC, July 10 – 14, 2016.
Cha, H., Chun, J. M., Sotelo, J., and Miljkovic, N., Focal Plane Shift Imaging for the Analysis of Jumping Droplet Condensation, 17th International Symposium on Flow Visualization, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, June 19 – 22, 2016.
2015
Kim, M.-K., Cha, H., Birbarah, P., Chavan, S., Zhong, C., Xu, Y., and Miljkovic, N., Enhancing the Coalescence-Induced Jumping Droplet Velocity via Multi-Droplet Coalescence, International Technical Conference and Exhibition on Packaging and Integration of Electronic and Photonic Microsystems Conference (InterPACK2015), San Francisco, California, July 6 – 9, 2015.