Wet weather coatings
Ever wished that your waterproof jacket could actively remove water from the inside? Now, scientists in Australia and the US have coated a fabric to do just that by transferring water exclusively in one direction.
Tong Lin colleagues coated a porous polyester fabric on both sides with a mixture of titanium dioxide and organosilanes. This combination is similar to a common coating for superhydrophobic surfaces. Shining UV light on one side of the fabric initiates a reaction that changes the coating and because the effect of the light diminishes the further it penetrates into the fabric, a gradient forms from one side to the other.
The side without UV light remains hydrophobic while the other side becomes hydrophilic. When water is dropped onto the hydrophobic side of the fabric, it is quickly transported through the polyester to the hydrophilic side where it then stays.
The team believes the simple coating technique could be used to produce high-performance fabrics for sports and military use, and even industrial membranes.
Original publication: Hongxia Wang, Jie Ding, Liming Dai, Xungai Wang and Tong Lin, Journal of Materials Chemistry 2010.
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