Welcome
Welcome to the MIT Device Research Laboratory
(DRL) under the direction of Dr. Evelyn
Wang in the Mechanical
Engineering Department at MIT.
The DRL combines fundamental studies of micro and nanoscale heat and mass transport processes with the development of novel nanostructured materials to create innovative solutions in thermal management, thermal energy storage, solar thermal energy conversion, and water desalination. We leverage state-of-the-art micro/nanofabrication, unique measurement, and model prediction capabilities to enable mechanistic insights into complex fluid, interfacial, and thermal transport processes. This approach has led to new and important functionalities to enhance heat and mass transfer for various applications.
Recent News
02/01/2021: Simple, solar-powered water desalination featured as Top MIT research stories of 2020 and covered by Scientific American
Congratulations to Zhenyuan Xu, Lenan Zhang, Lin Zhao, Bikram
Bhatia, Kyle Wilke, Youngsup Song and their collaborators in China
for their work on ultrahigh-efficiency solar-powered water
desalination featured as Top MIT research stories of 2020 on MIT
News and covered by Scientific American! This work demonstrated a
record-high solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 385% with a
production rate of 5.78 L m-2 h-1 using a low-cost and free-of-salt
accumulation multistage architecture. This work elucidates the
fundamental limit of the solar-to-vapor conversion process and
provides useful design guideline for existing passive solar thermal
desalination technologies. Image credits to MIT News.
Read more on MIT News,
Scientific American, and read the paper
here.
12/07/2020: Congratulations to Lenan Zhang for winning the best poster award at MRS 2020 Fall meeting
Congratulations to Lenan Zhang for winning the best poster award at
MRS 2020 Fall meeting!
Read more about his work on measuring thermal expansion coefficient
of 2D materials using micro-Raman spectroscopy here.
12/02/2020: Nucleation Site Distribution Probed by Phase-Enhanced Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy
Congratulations
to Lenan Zhang, Ryuichi Iwata, Lin Zhao, Shuai Gong, Zhengmao Lu,
Zhenyuan Xu, Yang Zhong, Jinlong Zhu, Samuel Cruz, Kyle Wilke, and
Professor Ping Cheng at Shanghai Jiao Tong University for their
recent work of Nucleation Site Distribution Probed by
Phase-Enhanced Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy featured
on MIT News! In this work, we report direct experimental
observation of nucleation site distribution in droplet condensation
using phase-enhanced environmental scanning electron microscopy.
Using statistical theory, we demonstrate that the population and
spatial distribution of nucleation sites are governed by the
Poisson and Rayleigh distribution, respectively. We further show
the broad applicability of these insights into nucleation site
distribution to hydrogen-evolving reactions and chemical vapor
deposition. Our platform, combining precise characterization and
theory, advances the fundamental understanding of nucleation
phenomena and guides designs from materials to devices. Read more
on MIT
News, and read the paper
here.
11/18/2020: A Passive High-Temperature High-Pressure Solar Steam Generator for Medical Sterilization
Congratulations to Lin Zhao, Bikram Bhatia, Lenan Zhang, Elise
Strobach, Arny Leroy, Sungwoo Yang as well as their collaborators
for their recent work on A Passive High-Temperature High-Pressure
Solar Steam Generator for Medical Sterilization, which was featured
on MIT News and Nature Research Highlights! In this work, we
demonstrated a passive solar thermal device mostly built from
low-cost off-the-shelf components capable of delivering saturated
and pressurized steam to drive sterilization cycles even under hazy
and partly cloudy weather. Enabled by an optimized
ultra-transparent silica aerogel, the device utilizes an efficient
thermal concentration strategy to locally increase the heat flux
and temperature obviating the need for active optical
concentrators. With almost 2× higher energy efficiency (47%) than
those previously reported at 100°C, the device demonstrated
successful sterilization in a field test performed in Mumbai,
India. In addition to enabling passive sterilization, this work
promises the development of solar thermal energy systems for
saturated steam generation in energy conversion, storage, and
transport applications.
Read more on MIT
News, Nature,
The Economist, and
Physics World, and read the paper
here.
