The effects of different surface hydrophilicity on frosting and defrosting characteristic were experimentally investigated. Mass of frost and water hold-up was measured. Results showed that no significant difference in the frost mass was found between the two different surfaces while the water hold-up of heat exchanger court be reduced by the enhancement of surface hydrophilicity. Also, the defrosting efficiency m hydrophilic surface was improved by 76%. It was expected that hydrophilic heat exchanger could provide the improvements in both thermal-hydraulic performances and system reliability during frost/defrost operating in refrigeration systems.