Abstract: Heterogeneous surfaces to tailor bubble nucleation, bubble sites, and bubble dynamics. In some embodiments, piezoelectric inkjet printing is employed to deposit hydrophobic polymer dot arrays having any predetermined pattern. In some further embodiments, a field region comprising hydrophilic nanostructures further surrounds these dot arrays. The hydrophobic sites may be disposed at a crater bottom to enhancing wicking and replenishment of evaporate. In some embodiments, a heat exchanger comprises the heterogeneous surface for enhanced critical heat flux. In some embodiments, an apparatus for conveying information comprises the heterogeneous surface to generate a 2D binary image with each bubble serving as an image pixel that corresponds to one or more site within the heterogeneous surface.