Bioinspired Breathable Architecture for Water Harvesting

Spreckelsen, Rowan M. von; Harris, Matt; Wigzell, James M.; Fraser, R.C.; Carletto, Andrea; Mosquin, Daniel P. K.; Justice, Douglas; Badyal, J. P. S.

doi:10.1038/srep16798

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Waterproof and breathable functional membranes designed for coats should possess three main characteristics: materials should be water repellent, water vapor permeable, and wind resistant. − Apart from water repellency, permeability to water vapor should permit evaporating sweat from the skin’s surface to ensure the wearer feel comfortable; the windproof property prevents cold wind from entering the space between the skin and garments during extreme climate conditions. Sweat vapor breathability and windproofness were usually characterized in terms of WVTR and air transmittance, respectively.…”

Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tailoring Water-Resistant and Breathable Performance of Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Membranes Modified by Polydimethylsiloxane

Sheng

Zhang

et al. 2016

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

150

106

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The demand of water-resistant and breathable materials applied to a separation medium and protective garments is steadily increasing. Typical approaches to obtain these functional materials are based on hydrophobic agents and porous substrates with small fiber diameter, tiny pore, and high porosity. However, a fluorinated hydrophobic finishing agent usually employed in providing effective waterproofness is limited with respect to their environmental persistence and toxic potential. Herein, with the aim to keep a balance between the water-resistance and breathability as well as mechanical properties, we fabricate a novel fluoride-free functional membrane by electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers modified with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). As determined by morphological, DSC, and FT-IR analyses, the curing reaction of PDMS macromolecules formed an abundance of hydrophobic adhesive structures, which improved the waterproof performance dramatically and imparted relative good breathability at the same time. By systematically tuning the curing temperature as well as the concentration of PDMS, the modified PAN membranes with 4 wt % PDMS possessed good water-resistance (80.9 kPa), modest vapor permeability (12.5 kg m d), and air permeability (9.9 mm s). Compared with pristine PAN membranes, the modified membranes were endowed with enhanced tensile stress of 15.7 MPa. The good comprehensive performance of the as-prepared membranes suggested their potential applications in protective clothing, membrane distillation, self-cleaning materials, and other medical products. Furthermore, the proposed relationship between porous structure and waterproof/breathable property as one considerable principle is applicable to designing functional membranes with different levels of protective and comfortable performance.

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Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tailoring Water-Resistant and Breathable Performance of Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Membranes Modified by Polydimethylsiloxane

Sheng

Zhang

et al. 2016

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

150

106

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“…8 The understanding and replication of such surfaces is paving the way to many everyday technological applications; for example, self-cleaning designs based upon the lotus leaf have been introduced into the paint, glass, automotive, and textile industries. 9 Plant species displaying a range of wettabilities have been widely studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart water channelling through dual wettability by leaves of the bamboo Phyllostachys aurea

Wigzell

Racoviţǎ

Stentiford

et al. 2016

Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspect

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Smart water channelling through dual wettability by leaves of the bamboo Phyllostachys aurea, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects http://dx. HIGHLIGHTS Dual hydrophobic-hydrophilic wettability of young Phyllostachys aurea bamboo leaf surfaces leads to water channelling and self-cleaning. Nanoscale roughness of epicuticular waxes combined with very-long-chain alkyl compounds underpin localised leaf wetting characteristics. Bioinspired replication of dual wetting hydrophobic -hydrophilic channelled surfaces may offer potential for fog collection and dew harvesting in water-scarce regions of the world. ABSTRACTThe young leaves of the bamboo plant, Phyllostachys aurea, exhibit a distinct dual wetting behaviour on their adaxial surface. Contact angle analysis, variable pressure (environmental) scanning electron microscopy, gas chromatography, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have shown that the epicuticular wax morphology/topography and the surface distribution of chemical species underpin this water-channelling behaviour. Envisaged bioinspired applications include fog and dew harvesting in water-scarce regions of the world.

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“…Finally, condensates are accumulated on the root of the 1-L. It is different from the water collection mechanism of the porous mesh inspired by Thuja plicata tree, which collects water by capturing the tiny water when the fog passes the porous structure . To exhibit the unidirectional water movement along the tracks, the sample is tested on a cooling horizontal stage by injecting red ink on the 4-L (see Figure a–c and Movie S6).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some organisms such as Namib Desert beetles and cactuses can adapt to the xeric conditions due to their unique fog-harvesting abilities. , The strategy of water collection imitating these creatures has gained increasing attention. Inspired by Namib Desert beetles, ,− cactuses, ,, spider silk, − nepenthes, Burkheya purpureas, and leaves, − numerous bionic structures have been introduced. Parker et al revealed that a near-random array of hydrophilic bumps with superhydrophobic troughs on the elytra of Stenocara resulted in an excellent fog-harvesting ability .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf Vein-Inspired Hierarchical Wedge-Shaped Tracks on Flexible Substrate for Enhanced Directional Water Collection

Lin

Tan

Shi

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Water collection has been extensively researched due to its potential for mitigating the water scarcity in arid and semiarid regions. Numerous structures mimicking the fog-harvesting strategy of organisms have been fabricated for improving water-collecting efficiency. In this contribution, we demonstrate four-level wedge-shaped tracks inspired by leaf vein for enhancing directional water collection. Superhydrophilic Cu(OH) 2 nanowires are introduced and prepared on flexible hydrophobic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by alkali-assisted surface oxidation at room temperature. They provide abundant capillary paths for promoting droplet absorption and forming water film tracks. Then, the hierarchical wedge-shaped tracks enable the water to be transported to a certain accumulation region spontaneously owing to the continuous Young−Laplace pressure difference. As a result, the four-level wedgeshaped tracks on PET substrate achieve the highest water-collecting efficiency, increasing by nearly 1150 and 510% compared to the bare PET and Cu(OH) 2 nanowires on PET, respectively. After being bent for 10 5 cycles at a radius of 10 mm, the samples can still preserve high efficiency, indicating that the synthetic structures possess outstanding durability. Our approach provides a novel strategy for water collection and paves ways for directional liquid transportation and microfluidic devices.

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Bioinspired Breathable Architecture for Water Harvesting

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

Tailoring Water-Resistant and Breathable Performance of Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Membranes Modified by Polydimethylsiloxane

Tailoring Water-Resistant and Breathable Performance of Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Membranes Modified by Polydimethylsiloxane

Smart water channelling through dual wettability by leaves of the bamboo Phyllostachys aurea

Leaf Vein-Inspired Hierarchical Wedge-Shaped Tracks on Flexible Substrate for Enhanced Directional Water Collection

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