Nan Hu (胡 楠)

Nan Hu (胡 楠)

He/him

B.E., Zhejiang University; Ph.D., Zhejiang University; Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University

Publications

You can also find my articles on my Google Scholar profile.

Journal Articles

Revealing Actual Viscoelastic Relaxation Times in Capillary Breakup

Published in Arxiv, 2025

We use experiments and theory to elucidate the size effect in capillary breakup rheometry, where pre-stretching in the visco-capillary stage causes the apparent relaxation time to be consistently smaller than the actual value. We propose a method accounting for both the experimental size and the finite extensibility of polymers to extract the actual relaxation time. A phase diagram characterizes the expected measurement variability and delineates scaling law conditions. The results refine capillary breakup rheometry for viscoelastic fluids and advance the understanding of breakup dynamics across scales.

Recommended citation: Nan Hu*, Jonghyun Hwang, Tachin Ruangkriengsin, Howard A. Stone*, Revealing Actual Viscoelastic Relaxation Times in Capillary Breakup, arXiv:2503.05897.
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Close-contact melting on hydrophobic textured surfaces: Confinement and meniscus effects

Published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2025

We investigate the dynamics of close-contact melting (CCM) on gas-trapped hydrophobic surfaces, with specific focus on the effects of geometrical confinement and the liquid-air meniscus below the liquid film.

Recommended citation: Nan Hu*, Liwu Fan*, Xiang Gao, Howard A. Stone*. Close-contact melting on hydrophobic textured surfaces: Confinement and meniscus effects, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Volume 1010 , 10 May 2025 , A46
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High-Performance Boiling Surfaces Enabled by an Electrode-Transpose All-Electrochemical Strategy

Published in Advanced Science, 2024

A novel “electrode-transpose” all-electrochemical strategy is proposed to create superhydrophilic microporous surfaces with higher dendrites and larger pores by simply adding an electrochemical etching step prior to the multiple electrochemical deposition steps.

Recommended citation: Yu-Ming Chen†, Nan Hu†, Jia-Yi Zhang†, Yi-Fei Sun, Yue-Fei Wu, Zi-Rui Li, Li-Wu Fan*, High-Performance Boiling Surfaces Enabled by an Electrode-Transpose All-Electrochemical Strategy, Advanced Science, 2413142 (2024).
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Insights into the Relationship between Temperature Variation and NAPL Removal during In Situ Thermal Remediation of Soil in the Presence of NAPL–Water Co-boiling: A Two-Dimensional Visualized Sandbox Study

Published in Environmental Science & Technology, 2024

The results reveal semiquantitatively the impact of different initial NAPL amounts and spatial distributions on temperature variations, by using a two-dimensional visualized sandbox integrated with real-time image processing and an array of temperature sensors to monitor the NAPL removal and temperature variation.

Recommended citation: Xin-Yu Xu, Nan Hu*, Qing Wang, Xiao-Dong Li, Zi-Tao Yu, Xin Song, and Li-Wu Fan*, Insights into the Relationship between Temperature Variation and NAPL Removal during In Situ Thermal Remediation of Soil in the Presence of NAPL-Water Co-boiling: A Two-Dimensional Visualized Sandbox Study, Environmental Science and Technology, 58(51), 22594-22602 (2024).
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KOH Activated Carbon Coated 3D Wood Solar Evaporator with Highest Water Transport Height and Evaporation Rate for Clean Water Production

Published in Advanced Science, 2024

In this work, a 3D solar evaporator featuring a soil capillary-like structure is designed by surface coating native balsa wood using potassium hydroxide activated carbon (KAC).

Recommended citation: Mengxue Zhang, Nan Hu, Yang Guo, Wenhao Wu, Liwu Fan, Daohui Lin, Juan Wang*, Kun Yang*, KOH Activated Carbon Coated 3D Wood Solar Evaporator with Highest Water Transport Height and Evaporation Rate for Clean Water Production, Advanced Science, 2402583 (2024).
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Understanding of Co-boiling between Organic Contaminants and Water during Thermal Remediation: Effects of Nonequilibrium Heat and Mass Transport

Published in Environmental Science & Technology, 2023

We performed a systematic experimental investigation into the local temperature rise patterns at different distances from a NAPL pool and under different degrees of superheat by selecting four representative NAPLs.

Recommended citation: Xin-Yu Xu, Nan Hu, Zhu-Kang Qian, Qing Wang, Li-Wu Fan*, Xin Song, Understanding of co-boiling between organic contamimants and water during thermal remediation: effects of nanoequilibrium heat and mass transport, Environmental Science and Technology, 57(42), 16043-16052 (2023).
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Nanocomposite phase change materials for high-performance thermal energy storage A critical review

Published in Energy Storage Materials, 2023

In this review, we summarize systematically the effects of carbon-based nano-additives on the important thermophysical properties of nanocomposite phase change materials, referred to as nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCM)

Recommended citation: Zi-Rui Li, Nan Hu, Li-Wu Fan*, Nanocomposite phase change materials for high-performance thermal energy storage, Energy Storage Materials, 55, 727-753 (2023).
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Close-contact melting of shear-thinning fluids

Published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2023

We presented a theoretical framework for predicting the variation of liquid melt film thickness and motion of unmelted solid for both Carreau and power-law fluids.

Recommended citation: Nan Hu, Li-Wu Fan*, Close-contact melting of shear-thinning fluids, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 968, A9 (2023).
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Tackling realistic Li+ flux for high-energy lithium metal batteries

Published in Nature Communications, 2022

In this work, we establish a mechanistic model to decipher how the SEI affects Li plating in high-fluorine electrolytes, inspiring the design of an efficient electrolyte that generates dual-halide SEI to homogenize Li+ distribution and Li deposition.

Recommended citation: Shuoqing Zhang†, Ruhong Li†, Nan Hu†, Tao Deng, Suting Weng, Zunchun Wu, Di Lu, Haikuo Zhang, Junbo Zhang, Xuefeng Wang, Lixin Chen, Liwu Fan*, Xiulin Fan*, Tackling realistic Li+ flux for high-energy lithium metal batteries, Nature Communications, 13, 5431 (2022).
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A numerical study of optimizing the well spacing and heating power for in situ thermal remediation of organic-contaminated soil

Published in Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 2022

Numerical simulations were performed using COMSOL Multiphysics based on a coupled water-vapor-heat transport model without considering the organic pollutants

Recommended citation: Xin-Yu Xu, Nan Hu*, Qing Wang, Li-Wu Fan*, Xin Song, A numerical study of optimizing the well spacing and heating power for in situ thermal remediation of organic-contaminated soil, Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 33, 101941 (2022).
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