Pore size effect on one-way water-transport cotton fabrics

Fabrics with spontaneous one-way water transport property have received much attention in scientific and industrial communities in the recent years. However, limited knowledge is available about how to control and adjust directional water transport capacity on fabrics. In this study, we have prepared one-way water transport fabrics using three plain-woven cotton fabrics, which have different pore sizes, as substrates. An electrospray technique was employed to deposit hydrophobic coating on one side of the fabrics. One-way water transport property was attained when the coating thickness was in the range of 9.0–23.9 μm. The fabric pore size was found to be a critical factor deciding the maximum one-way water transport capacity that can be achieved on the fabric. With the same coating thickness, the fabric with smaller pores showed larger one-way transport capacity. These novel results may be useful for designing high performance one-way water transport fabrics for various applications.