Effects of surface polar unit densities on evaporation of nanosized water aggregation.

[Display omitted] • A solid surface with a strong inhibitory effect on evaporation was found. • The effects of surface polar unit densities on evaporation rate were studied. • The evaporation rate varies non-monotonically as the surface polar unit density rises. The evaporation behavior of nanosized water aggregations on two-dimensional electroneutral solid surfaces with different surface polar unit densities (ρ) was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Unexpectedly, the evaporation rate (R) changes non-monotonically with ρ. More interestingly, the minimum R, which was only 0.6 % of that on the nonpolar solid surface, was obtained when the solid surface had a modest surface polar unit ratio of 66.7 % (ρ = 25.8 #/nm2) instead of the intuitively expected 100 % (i.e., every atom is charged). Our findings should be helpful in designing artificial surfaces with moisturizing functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]