Review on the Development and Application of Directional Water Transport Textile Materials

Abstract

Moisture (sweat) management in textile products is crucial to regulate human thermo-physiological comfort. Traditional hydrophilic textiles, such as cotton, can absorb sweat, but they retain it, leading to undesired wet adhesion sensation and even excessive cooling. To address such issues, the development of functional textiles with directional water transport (DWT) has garnered great deal of interest. DWT textile materials can realize directional water transport and prevent water penetration in the reverse direction, which is a great application for sweat release in daily life. In this review article, the mechanism of directional water transport is analyzed. Then, three key methods to achieve DWT performance are reviewed, including the design of the fabric structure, surface modification and electrospinning. In addition, the applications of DWT textile materials in functional clothing, electronic textiles, and wound dressing are introduced. Finally, the challenges and future development trends of DWT textile materials in the textile field are discussed.

Advances in Directional Wetting Surfaces for Enhanced Fluid Control: A Comprehensive Review

“…[10a,128] This functionality can be adopted to design functional textiles with antisoiling and breathable properties (Figure 12f). [129] The precise and controllable manipulation of individual or multiple tiny droplets is necessary in various fields, including biological analyses, chemical synthesis, and mass spectrometry. Actuated directionally wetting surfaces, particularly digital microfluidics, have extensive application prospects because they can dispense, manipulate, merge, and split picoliters into microliter droplets along a predetermined path.…”

Micropatternable Janus Paper as a Wearable Skin Patch for Sweat Collection and Analysis

“…[ 37 ] Moreover, this property can slow the sweat sampling when moisture is absorbed from a humid environment in the opposite direction. [ 38 ] When the paper is fully saturated, the nonabsorbed excessive sweat remains between the skin and paper, weakening the mechanical strength of the paper and developing a wet, sticky microenvironment. [ 35,36 ] Even worse, the accumulated sweat may promote the breeding of bacteria, causing potential infections with a peculiar smell.…”

Asymmetric Multienergy-Coupled Radiative Warming Textiles for Personal Thermal-Moisture Management

“…Compared to other photothermal conversion materials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have more advantages as a result of their physicochemical stability, wideband solar harvesting, and splendid thermal conductivity. , However, the low dispersion and surface inertness of CNT in aqueous solutions greatly limit the interfacial interaction force with textile substrates as well as the ability to optimize the performance in light-to-heat conversion. , Last but not least, previous strategies for warming textiles generally concentrated on manipulating heat, which is not enough in a cold environment where sweat is generated from prolonged outdoor exercise and physical work. If sweat is not effectively eliminated from the skin, people can not only feel sticky and supercooling but also lose more heat, which even threatens their health in severe cases . To date, strategies including the construction of wetting gradient/grading structures, multiscale interconnected grading structures, and thermoresponsive and light-responsive polymers have been applied to improve the sweat/moisture transport and evaporation properties of PTM textiles. – However, there continues to be a significant challenge in achieving textiles with high durability, multienergy-coupled heating, and rapid evaporation of perspiration for indoor and outdoor heating in an energy-efficient way.…”

“…If sweat is not effectively eliminated from the skin, people can not only feel sticky and supercooling but also lose more heat, which even threatens their health in severe cases. 33 To date, strategies including the construction of wetting gradient/grading structures, multiscale interconnected grading structures, and thermoresponsive and light-responsive polymers have been applied to improve the sweat/moisture transport and evaporation properties of PTM textiles. 34−40 However, there continues to be a significant challenge in achieving textiles with high durability, multienergy-coupled heating, and rapid evaporation of perspiration for indoor and outdoor heating in an energy-efficient way.…”