Credit: Illustration by Craig Fennel, eGrafx, and Chuan-Hua Chen. Duke University.
The top plate is a superhydrophilic evaporator covered with a water-filled wick, while the bottom plate is a superhydrophobic condenser on which the condensate droplets jump upon coalescence. The jumping mechanism returns the condensate droplets to the evaporator -- providing a way to address mobile hotspots as they occur.