Unidirectional water transfer effect from fabrics having a superhydrophobic-to-hydophilic gradient Wang, Hongxia, Wang, Xungai and Lin, Tong 2013, Unidirectional water transfer effect from fabrics having a superhydrophobic-to-hydophilic gradient, Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 839-842, doi: 10.1166/jnn.2013.6008. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Unidirectional water transfer effect from fabrics having a superhydrophobic-to-hydophilic gradient Author(s) Wang, Hongxia orcid.org/0000-0003-0247-9791 Wang, Xungai orcid.org/0000-0002-3549-6769 Lin, Tong orcid.org/0000-0002-1003-0671 Journal name Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology Volume number 13 Issue number 2 Start page 839 End page 842 Total pages 4 Publisher American Scientific Publishers Place of publication Valencia, Calif. Publication date 2013 ISSN 1533-4880 1533-4899 Keyword(s) superhydrophobicity hydrophilicity directional water-transfer coating Summary In this study, we demonstrate that fabrics having a wettability gradient from superhydrophobic to hydrophilic through the thickness direction show a novel directional water transfer effect: water can transfer from the superhydrophobic to the hydrophilic side, but not in the opposite direction unless an external force is applied. A sol–gel technology was used to prepare a nano-structured superhydrophobic coating on fabrics, and the coated fabrics showed water contact-angle as high as 165 degrees. When the coated fabric was subjected to a photochemistry treatment from one fabric side, the irradiated surface turned hydrophilic permanently, while the back side still maintained the superhydrophobicity. The treated fabric can transfer water droplet rapidly from hydrophobic to hydrophilic side, and the pressure allowing water breakthrough the fabric are different considerably between the two fabric sides. The directional water transfer effect is affected by the wettability gradient. Such a directional water transfer coating may be useful to develop new functional fabrics for defence applications. Language eng DOI 10.1166/jnn.2013.6008 Field of Research 091205 Functional Materials 091209 Polymers and Plastics Socio Economic Objective 860406 Synthetic Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2013, American Scientific Publishers Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30053650 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Institute for Frontier Materials GTP Research Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 12 Jul 2013, 15:36:55 EST Mon, 15 Jul 2013, 10:42:09 EST Thu, 18 Jul 2013, 08:56:54 EST Tue, 24 Sep 2013, 16:31:29 EST Tue, 24 Sep 2013, 16:32:10 EST Wed, 25 Sep 2013, 08:33:24 EST Tue, 04 Feb 2014, 13:19:09 EST Fri, 13 Jun 2014, 17:40:39 EST Fri, 10 Oct 2014, 09:08:42 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 20 times in TR Web of Science Cited 24 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 1005 Abstract Views, 5 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 12 Jul 2013, 15:36:55 EST