Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a nanomaterial deposition technique to effect heat transfer four times faster than the same materials without coating by increasing heat transfer coefficient 10 times higher. This has high potential in cooling technology, heat exchangers, refrigerators, heat pump systems, military electronic applications, high tech devices and many other commercial applications. This is made possible by using active coating on heat transfer surfaces with a nanostructured application of zinc oxide. The coating provides a combination of a nanostructure on top of a microstructure and the “ multi-textured surface that looks almost like flowers, and has extra shapes and capillary forces encourage bubble formation and rapid, efficient replenishment of active boiling sites” according to the researchers. The coating of zinc oxide on aluminum and copper substrates will be inexpensive for large scale applications. According to the scientists "As solution processes, these microreactor-assisted, nanomaterial deposition approaches are less expensive than carbon nanotube approaches, and more importantly, processing temperatures are low."