Leidenfrost effect in the flash vaporization of hydrogen peroxide and water mixtures

The Leidenfrost effect, a phenomenon where a droplet levitates on a heated surface due to rapid vaporization, has been extensively studied with various liquids. However, the behavior of binary mixtures, specifically those involving hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water, remains relatively unexplored. This study investigates such mixtures, focusing on the ejection dynamics of secondary droplets under different temperatures and solution concentrations. High-speed imaging is used to capture the evolution of droplets upon impacting a hot surface. The results reveal a significant increase in droplet fragmentation and ejection with increasing temperature and hydrogen peroxide concentration. Droplet ejection volume increased by a factor of 2.5 when the temperature was 60 °C over the Leidenfrost point, while it increased by a factor of 1.7 when comparing a solution of 10% wt. H2O2 up to a concentration of 50%. A comprehensive analysis of the observed phenomena is proposed. The impact of hydrogen peroxide's thermal decomposition on systems such as H2O2 vapor decontamination enclosures is revealed. The main difficulty in obtaining highly concentrated H2O2 gas is attributed to the Leidenfrost effect ejecting secondary droplets.