Chi Huanjie, Xu Zhiguang, Wei Zhenzhen, Zhang Tao, Wang Hongxia, Lin Tong, Zhao Yan
College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
China-Australia Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jun 23;13(24):29150-29157. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c06489. Epub 2021 Jun 8.
Porous media with directional water-transport capability have great applications in oil-water separation, moisture-harvesting, microfluidics, and moisture-management textiles. However, the previous directional water-transport materials chiefly work in the air. The materials with directional water-transport capability in the oil phase have been less reported. Here, we fabricated a novel Janus fabric with amphibious directional water-transport capability that can work both in the air and oil phases. It was prepared using dip coating and spraying to develop an oleophobic-hydrophobic to oleophobic-hydrophilic gradient across the thickness of the fabric substrate. The fabric allowed water droplets to rapidly transport from the hydrophobic to the hydrophilic side when the fabric was either in the air environment or fully immersed in oil. However, it hindered water transport in the opposite direction. More importantly, the fabric can overcome gravity to capture water from oil. Such an air-oil amphibious water-transport fabric showed excellent water collecting capability. In oil, it does not require any prewetting or extra pressure to perform directional water transport, which is vital for water-oil separation and microfluidics. Such amphibious directional water-transport function may be useful for the development of smart membranes and directional liquid delivery.
具有定向输水能力的多孔介质在油水分离、集水、微流体和湿度管理纺织品等方面有广泛应用。然而，以往的定向输水材料主要在空气中发挥作用。在油相中具有定向输水能力的材料报道较少。在此，我们制备了一种具有两栖定向输水能力的新型双面织物，它能在空气和油相中都发挥作用。通过浸涂和喷涂工艺，在织物基材的厚度方向上形成了从疏油疏水到疏油亲水的梯度。当织物处于空气环境或完全浸没在油中时，该织物能使水滴从疏水侧快速输送到亲水侧。然而，它阻碍了水向相反方向的传输。更重要的是，该织物能够克服重力从油中捕获水。这种气-油两栖输水织物表现出优异的集水能力。在油中，它进行定向输水不需要任何预湿或额外压力，这对于油水分离和微流体至关重要。这种两栖定向输水功能可能对智能膜和定向液体输送的发展有用。
