Abstract
Directional water transport fabrics have attracted a considerable attention in the field of functional textiles owning to their excellent performance in moisture management. Although the structure with bilayer can achieve some positive outcomes, it is still a challenge to balance the water transport capacity and the prevention of water penetration in the reverse direction. In this study, a hybrid manufacturing approach is proposed to produce highly directional water transport fabrics. Melt electrowriting (MEW), an advanced additive manufacturing technique, is adopted to print high-resolution mesh utilized as the hydrophobic layer. An electrospun nanofiber mat attached on the MEW mesh is employed as the hydrophilic layer. This composite membrane exhibits excellent performance with a desired one-way water transport index (R = 1072.9%), water vapor transmission rates (4818 g/m2/d), air permeability (7.4 mm/s) and breakthrough pressure (5.0 cm H2O) in the reverse direction. This breakthrough will open a door to address the issues of directional water transport and greatly extend the application of MEW to functional textiles as well.
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