This overview intends to provide a comprehensive assessment of the novel fluids and the current techniques for surface modification for pool boiling enhancement. The surface modification at macro-, micro-, and nanoscales is assessed concerning the underlying fluid routing and capability to eliminate the incipient boiling hysteresis and ameliorate the pool boiling heat-transfer ability, particularly when employed together with self-rewetting fluids and nanofluids with enriched thermophysical properties. Considering the nanofluids, it is viable to take the profit of their high thermal conductivity and their specific heat simultaneously and to produce a film of deposited nanoparticles onto the heating surface, which possesses enhanced surface roughness and an increased density of nucleation sites. Whilst the diverse improvement scales are found to achieve distinct levels of success regarding the nucleate boiling heat-transfer capability enhancement, it is also shown that the micro-nanoscale boiling surface features are susceptible to blockage, leading to the degradation of the improvement with time. Furthermore, topics relating to the heat transfer thermal behavior, ease of manufacture, cost-effectiveness, reliability, and durability are reviewed whenever available and challenges and recommendations for further research are highlighted.
Keywords: biphilic surfaces; enhanced surfaces; heat transfer; pool boiling.