TY - JOUR
T1 - Lotus Leaf-Inspired Breathable Membrane with Structured Microbeads and Nanofibers
AU - Shi, Shuo
AU - Zhi, Chuanwei
AU - Zhang, Shuai
AU - Yang, Jieqiong
AU - Si, Yifan
AU - Jiang, Yuanzhang
AU - Ming, Yang
AU - Lau, Kin Tak
AU - Fei, Bin
AU - Hu, Jinlian
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Startup Grant of CityU (“Laboratory of Wearable Materials for Healthcare”, Grant 9380116), National Natural Science Foundation of China (“Study of high performance fiber to be achieved by mimicking the hierarchical structure of spider-silk”, Grant 52073241; “Study of Multi-Responsive Shape Memory Polyurethane Nanocomposites Inspired by Natural Fibers”, Grant 51673162; “Developing Spider-Silk-Model Artificial Fibers by A Chemical Synthetic Approach”, Grant 15201719), and the Contract Research (“Development of Breathable Fabrics with Nano-Electrospun Membrane”, CityU ref.: 9231419).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2022/8/31
Y1 - 2022/8/31
N2 - Electrospinning is a feasible technology to fabricate nanomaterials. However, the preparation of nanomaterials with controllable structures of microbeads and fine nanofibers is still a challenge, which hinders widespread applications of electrospun products. Herein, inspired by the micro/nanostructures of lotus leaves, we constructed a structured electrospun membrane with excellent comprehensive properties. First, micro/nanostructures of membranes with adjustable microbeads and nanofibers were fabricated on a large scale and quantitatively analyzed based on the controlling preparation, and their performances were systematically evaluated. The deformation of diverse polymeric solution droplets in the electrospinning process under varying electric fields was then simulated by molecular dynamic simulation. Finally, novel fibrous membranes with structured sublayers and controllable morphologies were designed, prepared, and compared. The achieved structured membranes demonstrate a high water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) > 17.5 kg/(m2 day), a good air permeability (AP) > 5 mL/s, a high water contact angle (WCA) up to 151°, and a high hydrostatic pressure of 623 mbar. The disclosed science and technology in this article can provide a feasible method to not only adjust micro/nanostructure fibers but also to design secondary multilayer structures. This research is believed to assist in promoting the diversified development of advanced fibrous membranes and intelligent protection.
AB - Electrospinning is a feasible technology to fabricate nanomaterials. However, the preparation of nanomaterials with controllable structures of microbeads and fine nanofibers is still a challenge, which hinders widespread applications of electrospun products. Herein, inspired by the micro/nanostructures of lotus leaves, we constructed a structured electrospun membrane with excellent comprehensive properties. First, micro/nanostructures of membranes with adjustable microbeads and nanofibers were fabricated on a large scale and quantitatively analyzed based on the controlling preparation, and their performances were systematically evaluated. The deformation of diverse polymeric solution droplets in the electrospinning process under varying electric fields was then simulated by molecular dynamic simulation. Finally, novel fibrous membranes with structured sublayers and controllable morphologies were designed, prepared, and compared. The achieved structured membranes demonstrate a high water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) > 17.5 kg/(m2 day), a good air permeability (AP) > 5 mL/s, a high water contact angle (WCA) up to 151°, and a high hydrostatic pressure of 623 mbar. The disclosed science and technology in this article can provide a feasible method to not only adjust micro/nanostructure fibers but also to design secondary multilayer structures. This research is believed to assist in promoting the diversified development of advanced fibrous membranes and intelligent protection.
KW - biomimetic
KW - controllable electrospinning
KW - fibrous membrane
KW - lotus leaf
KW - waterproof breathable
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136734997&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.2c11251
DO - 10.1021/acsami.2c11251
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35980757
AN - SCOPUS:85136734997
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 14
SP - 39610
EP - 39621
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 34
ER -