An integrative bioinspired venation network with ultra-contrasting wettability for large-scale strongly self-driven and efficient water collection
| Autor: | Minlin Zhong, Mingyong Cai, Xiao Luo, Weijian Liu, Changhao Chen, Rui Pan, Peixun Fan, Hongjun Zhang |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Fabrication
business.industry Scale (chemistry) Microfluidics 02 engineering and technology 010402 general chemistry 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 01 natural sciences Networking hardware 0104 chemical sciences Water scarcity Heat transfer SCALE-UP Environmental science General Materials Science Wetting 0210 nano-technology Process engineering business |
| Zdroj: | Nanoscale. 11(18) |
| ISSN: | 2040-3372 |
| Popis: | Collection of water from the atmosphere is a potential route to alleviate the global water shortage. However, it is still difficult to find a strategy to collect sufficient water on a large surface and transport it all off the surface without additional energy input. Inspired by redbud leaves, herein, we proposed a new water-collecting configuration. This configuration utilizes an ultra-contrasting wettability venation network with hierarchical micro-nano structures as the skeleton and integrates the strategies evolved by cacti and beetles. This venation network was fabricated by the technology based on ultra-fast lasers. We achieved a near-unity efficiency in collecting and centralizing the condensed water on the entire surface with a large area. Remarkable water collection and centralization capability were obtained. The venation networks manifested the notable enhancements of ∼166%, ∼352% and ∼644% in water collection efficiency when compared with conventional superhydrophobic surfaces at the tilt angles of 90°, 60° and 30°, respectively. This configuration can work continuously at all tilt angles, even against gravity at a negative tilt angle of 90°. In addition, the venation network can maintain excellent water collecting capability even under very arid conditions. The principle and fabrication technology of this venation network make it possible to scale up a practical network device for mass water collection and may be useful for water desalination, heat transfer, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, distillation and many other applications. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|