Pool-boiling enhancement by novel metallic nanoporous surface

► We propose HDGD process for fabricating metallic nanoporous surface. ► We examine pool-boiling performance of the nanoporous surface. ► Nanoporous copper structure significantly enhances nucleate boiling. ► The enhancement by nanostructure declines with heat flux increasing. Dealloying is an ideal method for fabricating thermal-conductive metallic nanoporous materials with well-ordered nano-structures. In this experimental study, the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer performance of a nanoporous copper surface fabricated by the facile hot-dip galvanizing/dealloying (HDGD) process is investigated with saturated deionized water. Dramatic reduction of wall superheat and improvement of heat transfer coefficient (HTC) were observed for the nanostructured surface compared to those of unstructured surface, particularly at low heat flux conditions.