Polylactic acid based Janus membranes with asymmetric wettability for directional moisture transport with enhanced UV protective capabilities.

ABSTRACT: Efficient directional moisture transport can remove excess sweat away from the human body and keep the body dry; fully utilizing this functionality to improve the wearing experience is urgently needed in the area of functional textiles. Herein, a facile strategy is used to design an eco-friendly and biodegradable PLA membrane with enhanced directional moisture transport and UV protection abilities. The PLA-based Janus membrane with asymmetric wettability is fabricated via sol-gel and electrospinning methods. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂) were anchored onto the surface of the PLA fabric during the TiO₂ sol-gel fabrication process using polydopamine, forming superhydrophilic TiO₂@PDA-PLA. Then a thin PLA fibrous membrane layer showing hydrophobicity was electrospun onto this (PLA-E). The Janus PLA-E/TiO₂@PDA-PLA membrane was successfully fabricated. Due to the asymmetric wettability and anchored TiO₂, the PLA-E/TiO₂@PDA-PLA Janus membrane exhibits efficient directional moisture transport and excellent UV protection abilities, and this work may provide a new pathway for fabricating multifunctional personal protective materials and have attractive potential applications in the future.

SUBMITTER: Gu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8978661 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature