Lao L, Shou D, Wu Y S, Fan J T
Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Sci Adv. 2020 Apr 3;6(14):eaaz0013. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz0013. eCollection 2020 Apr.
Personal moisture management fabrics that facilitate sweat transport away from the skin are highly desirable for wearer's comfort and performance. Here, we demonstrate a "skin-like" directional liquid transport fabric, which enables continuous one-way liquid flow through spatially distributed channels acting like "sweating glands" yet repels external liquid contaminants. The water transmission rate can be 15 times greater than that of best commercial breathable fabrics. This exceptional property is achieved by creating gradient wettability channels across a predominantly superhydrophobic substrate. The flow directionality is explained by the Gibbs pinning criterion. The permeability, mechanical property, and abrasion resistance (up to 10,000 cycles) of the fabric were not affected by the treatment. In addition to functional clothing, this concept can be extended for developing materials for oil-water separation, wound dressing, geotechnical engineering, flexible microfluidics, and fuel cell membranes.
对于穿着者的舒适度和性能而言，能够促进汗水从皮肤表面排出的个人湿度管理织物是非常理想的。在此，我们展示了一种“类皮肤”的定向液体传输织物，它能够通过类似“汗腺”的空间分布通道实现连续的单向液体流动，同时排斥外部液体污染物。其水传输速率可比最佳商用透气织物高15倍。这种卓越的性能是通过在主要为超疏水的基材上创建梯度润湿性通道来实现的。流动方向性由吉布斯钉扎准则解释。织物的渗透性、机械性能和耐磨性（高达10000次循环）不受该处理的影响。除功能性服装外，这一概念还可扩展用于开发油水分离、伤口敷料、岩土工程、柔性微流体和燃料电池膜等材料。
