EAI Endorsed Transactions on Energy Web (ISSN: 2032-944X)

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer   ISSN: 2151-8629 (Online)

Special Issue: Micro/Macro-scale Heat and Mass Transfer and Efficient Energy Conversion in Multiple Applications

With the increasing need for efficient, miniaturized thermal solutions across electronics, energy, aerospace, biomedical, and environmental fields, research on microscale fluid dynamics and phase-change heat transfer has emerged as a vital area of investigation. Fluid flow and heat transfer at microscales, particularly during phase-change events like boiling, condensation, droplet evaporation, and solid–liquid phase transition, demonstrate distinct characteristics shaped by interfacial phenomena, surface micro/nano-engineering, and geometric confinement. These unique attributes offer both foundational questions and promising avenues for creating advanced thermal management strategies, high-efficiency energy systems, and integrated microfluidic devices.

This Special Issue is dedicated to presenting cutting-edge advances and emerging trends in the study of microscale flow, heat transfer, and phase-change processes. We welcome original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and forward-looking perspectives that address underlying physical principles, novel modeling approaches, experimental methodologies, and application-oriented developments. By integrating insights from thermal science, fluid mechanics, material engineering, micro/nanofabrication, and data-driven methods, this issue aims to promote interdisciplinary exchange and stimulate innovative approaches to address thermal and fluidic challenges at small scales.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Phase-change processes at microscales: boiling, condensation, evaporation, and solidification
- Two-phase flow dynamics in micro-conduits, porous media, and composite geometries
- Capillary flows, wicking structures, and evaporative cooling mechanisms
- Droplet-surface interactions, wettability manipulation, and frost/ice formation
- Transport phenomena in microfluidics: flow, heat transfer, mixing, and species diffusion
- Bio-inspired thermal designs and nature-derived enhancement strategies
- Surface micro/nano-engineering for augmenting phase-change heat transfer
- Innovative measurement and visualization techniques for micro-thermofluidic systems
- Machine learning and physics-informed neural networks in thermal transport prediction
- Multiscale simulations and coupled thermal–fluid–chemical modeling
-Boiler combustion reaction, fuel gas control

Guest Editors

Assoc. Prof. Xiaomin Kang

Email: kxm@usc.edu.cn

Affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, China

Research Interests: battery thermal management, phase changed materials, solid batteries, surface and interface force spectroscopy

Assoc. Prof. Xuezhen Sun

Email: xuezhen202304@163.com

Affiliation: College of Mechanical Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, China

Research Interests: phase change and complex thermal-fluid transport, thermal management technologies for microelectronic devices and components

Dr. Tengge Mi

Email: mitengge@usc.edu.cn

Affiliation: College of Mechanical Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, China

Research Interests: removal mechanism of combustion pollutants DFT analysis of lithium battery cathode materials, battery thermal management