Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245

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Chemical Engineering Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cej

An effective and low-consumption foam finishing strategy for robust

functional fabrics with on-demand special wettability
Xiaowen Xie a, Shuhui Li a, Xiaoqin Wang a, Jianying Huang a, b, Zhong Chen c, Weilong Cai a, b,
Yuekun Lai a, b, *
a
College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, PR China
b
Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Chemical Engineering of China, Quanzhou, Fujian 362114, PR China
c
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The technologies of superhydrophobic finishing normally involve harmful reagents such as fluorine-containing
Superhydrophobic materials and organic solvents. Non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and large-scale applicable preparation
Foam finishing methods for superhydrophobic finishing remain a considerable challenge towards practical applications. In this
Janus
paper, we proposed a superhydrophobic foam finishing method with a low liquid-carrying rate. This finishing
Low liquid-carrying rate
solution is totally water-based without the use of any organic solvents or fluorine-containing materials. Based on
Unidirectional water transport
the characteristics of low liquid-carrying rate, this method can save nearly 60% of the solution consumption. In
addition, multifunctional superhydrophobic fabrics, such as hydrophobic patterns and Janus fabrics, can be
fabricated by this foam finishing method. Excellent properties such as superhydrophobicity, anti-fouling, and
directional water transportation could be achieved by controlling the amount of superhydrophobic foams.
Compared with other finishing technologies, the foam finishing method has the advantages of being facile, rapid
in preparation, environmentally friendly, and applicable for large-scale production. This technology could be
applied on various substrates and achieve rapid preparation for superhydrophobic surface, Janus surface, and
double-sided heterochromatic superhydrophobic surfaces.

1. Introduction continuous and large-scale preparation.

Cotton fabrics is one of the most favorable fabric materials for textile
and clothing engineering. However, the water-absorbing nature of cot­
ton fabric also makes them easily wetted and stained by liquid con­
taminants. Inspired by lotus leaf [1–2], seaweed [3], rice leaves, and
other species in nature [4–5], constructing superhydrophobic structures
on cotton fabrics [6–7] and other substrates (glass [8–9], wood [10],
metals [11], etc [12–13].) for self-cleaning [14], oil–water separation
[15–18], water collection [19–21], droplet manipulation [22–26], and
others [27–32] has received extensive attention in recent years.
Up to now, there have been many methods to prepare super­
hydrophobic fabrics [33,34], including vapor deposition [35], dip
coating [36], spray coating [37], etc [38,39]. However, large-scale
preparation of superhydrophobic materials still faces huge challenges,
since a large number of reported works used organic solvents and
fluorine-containing reagents, which are toxic to human being and
harmful to environment. Some of the reported methods are difficult for
It is well known that low surface energy is one of the key factors in
the construction of superhydrophobic surface. Among numerous
superhydrophobic studies, fluorine-containing materials have been
widely used because of their ultra-low surface energy [40–42]. How­
ever, fluorinated materials are often expensive, harmful and toxic to
humans and the environment. In this regard, polydimethylsiloxane
(PDMS) is a commonly used fluorine-free polymer binder for con­
structing superhydrophobic coatings, due to its excellent chemical sta­
bility, outstanding water-repellent property, and superior adhesion with
the substrate [43–46]. However, PDMS is only soluble in some organic
solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran and n-hexane. Organic solvents are
harmful to the environment and much more costly than water solvent,
which inhibits their large-scale preparation of superhydrophobic fab­
rics. Based on the above discussion, it is of great significance to explore
an environmentally friendly method for the preparation of super­
hydrophobic fabrics. Such method should, ideally, not contain fluorine
chemicals and not use organic solvents. It is also desirable that the

* Corresponding author at: College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, PR China
E-mail address: yklai@fzu.edu.cn (Y. Lai).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.131245
Received 2 April 2021; Received in revised form 13 June 2021; Accepted 7 July 2021
Available online 10 July 2021
1385-8947/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
X. Xie et al.
method is suitable for large-scale production.
Foam finishing is an environmentally friendly finishing technology
for fabrics. By stirring at a high speed, a large volume fraction of air is
introduced into the solution. Thus, a small amount of finishing solution
can be converted into a large amount of foam. Applying the foam for
treatment of fabrics can greatly reduce the consumption of finishing
solution. For comparison, direct soaking the fabric into the finishing
solution, would eventually produce a large amount of waste liquid.
Moreover, the foam finishing strategy would realize on-demanded site-
selective coating of functional foam to greatly reduce the waste liquid
production.
Herein, we developed an environmentally friendly, low liquid-
carrying rate foam finishing method to prepare superhydrophobic fab­
rics. No organic solvents are needed and the finishing solution is totally
fluorine-free. The obtained superhydrophobic foam finishing fabric (SFF
fabric) exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity and high air perme­
ability. Besides, due to the low liquid-carrying characteristics of the
foam finishing method, Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric
with a wetting gradient could be easily prepared. The Janus fabric with
an asymmetric superhydrophobic/hydrophilic contrast displayed a
“diode-like” unidirectional water transport function. Moreover, it has a
promising prospect in the production of functionalized fabric with high
breathability. This facile and highly scalable finishing technology can
achieve controllable foaming and defoaming, and save raw material
consumption.
2. Results and discussion
2.1. Properties of hydrophobic finishing foams
As shown in Scheme 1a, PDMS was firstly dispersed in water under
ultrasonic stirring then the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS),
foam stabilizer 1-dodecanol (DDA), fumed silica nanoparticles and
PDMS curing agent were added to obtain hydrophobic finishing solu­
tion. The mixture solution will produce a large number of foam bubbles
under vigorous stirring. Then these foams were evenly applied onto
fabric substrate, the superhydrophobic surface was obtained after drying
in an oven. To understand the foam finishing technology, the status of
each component in the foam is illustrated in Scheme 1b-d. Fumed silica
nanoparticles (SNPs) were wrapped with PDMS polymer layer and
distributed in the finishing liquid between the foam bubbles. Due to the
Scheme 1. (a) The schematic diagram of SFF fabric; magnified diagram of (b) the foam, (c) the foam liquid film, (d) SNPs covered with PDMS and (e) cross-section of
single yarn from Janus fabric (yellow color indicates the side finished by the finishing liquid). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
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Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245
relatively small amount of liquid in the finishing foam, only a shallow
layer of the fabric is wetting after the coating (Scheme 1e).
Among the components in hydrophobic finishing foam (HFF), SDS is
used as a foaming agent. When combined with a foam stabilizer DDA,
they endow the hydrophobic finishing liquid with excellent foaming
performance. Foam half-life refers to the time it takes when the volume
of liquid converted from the foam after foaming arrives to half of the
volume of the original finishing liquid used. After stirring at 2500 rpm
for 3 min, the volume of hydrophobic foam expanded to more than 6
times of the original finishing liquid, and the foam half-life exceeds 33
min (Fig. S1). The left-over liquid can be repeatedly foamed and reused
without affecting its effectiveness.
PDMS is a typical environmental-friendly hydrophobic material. In
this work, PDMS was added into water-phase rather than organic-phase
environment, a large amount of tiny emulsion droplets appeared under
vigorous stirring with the assistance of SDS, DDA and SNPs. The
resulting hydrophobic foam size ranges from 46.6 μm to 423.9 μm
(Fig. 1a), and the size distribution is shown in Fig. 1b. The average
diameter of hydrophobic foam is around 150 μm. As shown in Fig. 1c,
the SNPs were distributed in the boundary of the foam bubbles. In order
to further observe the distribution of the PDMS emulsion droplets in the
foam, a laser scanning confocal microscope was utilized. For better vi­
sual effect, the SNPs were stained with the fluorescent RhB dye in
advance. When a bright field was applied to observe the prepared foam,
numerous “islands” constructed with various sizes of foam were
captured (Fig. 1d). After foaming, some portions of the finishing liquid
were distributed among the foam in the form of liquid film and the most
of the finishing liquid remained between the gap of the foam. As ex­
pected, the foam showed polygon shapes under a confocal microscope,
and SNPs dyed with RhB were dispersed among the gap of foam,
exhibiting red triangle sections while the liquid film showed no fluo­
rescence due to the large portion of air inside (Fig. 1e-f).
We demonstrate that the defoaming is controllable by adjusting the
temperature. As shown in Fig. S2, the hydrophobic finishing foam lasted
for more than 48 h at room temperature. When the temperature
increased to 50 ◦ C, the hydrophobic finishing foam will be completely
defoamed within 15 min, showing good defoaming controllability.
2.2. Surface structural characteristics of SFF fabric
Compared with the smooth pristine fabric (Fig. 1g, h), the surface of
X. Xie et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245

Fig. 1. Microscope image of hydrophobic finishing foam at different magnification (a)100 × and (c) 500 ×; (b) The size distribution of hydrophobic finishing foam;
(d) Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) bright field image at 500 times of magnification; (e) The corresponding CLSM dark field images (500 × ) and (f)
locally enlarged image. SEM images of pristine fabric (g, h) and SFF fabric (j, k), insets (h, k) are the optical images of water contact angles. (i) The X-ray energy
dispersive spectra (EDS) of pristine cotton fabric and SFF fabric; (l) Element mappings of C, O, Si and S elements on SFF fabric surface.

SFF fabric fibers is covered with micro-nano SNPs particles wrapped by
PDMS polymer layer (Fig. 1j, k) The average SNP size is about 130 nm
(Fig. S3). In addition, the wettability of the pristine fabric and the SFF
fabric are shown in the insets of Fig. 1h and 1 k. The water droplets
spread and penetrated instantly on the surface of the pristine fabric,
while the droplets on the surface of the SFF fabric remained sphere with
a water contact angle of 155.7 ± 1.2◦ .
SDS is a common surfactant and used to foam the finishing solution.
However, it may reduce the hydrophobicity of the finishing solution due
to presence of hydrophilic groups. The EDS results of pristine cotton
fabric and SFF fabric are shown in Fig. 1i. Only C and O elements were
detected on the pristine cotton. After the foam finishing, both Si and S
elements appeared on SFF fabric, which is attributed to the presence of
PDMS, SNPs, and SDS. The atom content of S element is only 1.14%,
such a small amount is expected to have a minimal adverse impact on
the hydrophobicity of the SFF fabric. The SEM images and element

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mapping image indicated that PDMS, SNPs and SDS were dispersed
evenly onto the cotton fibers, indicating a successful surface finishing
(Fig. 1l).
We adopt the hydrophobic foam finishing method by introducing air
into a small amount of hydrophobic finishing liquid to produce a lot of
hydrophobic finishing foam. On the premise of maintaining excellent
hydrophobicity, low consumption of hydrophobic finishing liquid is the
most outstanding advantage of the current method. In order to clarify
the advantages of foam finishing method in comparison with other
preparation technologies, various finished fabrics were obtained by
using different fabric finishing methods with the same hydrophobic
finishing liquid. As shown in Fig. 2a, there is a maximum 3◦ difference
among the treated fabrics, and the treated fabric by foam finishing
method had the highest WCA of 155.4◦ . In addition, compared with
other fabrics prepared by hydrophobic finishing methods, the liquid-
carrying rate (defined as the percentage of the finishing liquid carried
by the fabric to the dry weight of the pristine fabric) of the fabric by the
foam finishing method decreased by 41.1% to 60.1%, and the weight

Fig. 2. (a) The liquid-carrying rate, weight gain, and WCA of fabrics with different superhydrophobic finishing methods; (b) Comparison of the air permeability of
superhydrophobic fabrics obtained by different hydrophobic finishing methods; (c) The bouncing process of a 10 μL of water droplet on the surface of SFF fabric; (d)
The self-cleaning effect of pristine and SFF fabric; (e) The lyophobic effect of SFF fabric on common liquids in daily life; Various superhydrophobic substrates (f)
ordinary A4 paper, (g) filter paper, (h) polyester/polyurethane fabric, (i) melamine sponge, insets are water contact angles, respectively.

4
X. Xie et al.
gain (defined as the percentage of the weight of the prepared fabric after
drying to the dry weight of the pristine fabric) of the fabric by the foam
finishing method decreased by 39.0% to 54.1%. This may be attributed
to the ability of the hydrophobic foam finishing technology that is able
to effectively concentrate the useful ingredients on the surface of fabric.
For instance, the foam finishing method consumes about 1/3 finishing
liquid compared with that by soaking method when applied to 40*40
cm2 cotton fabric, which means nearly 60% saving of raw materials.
Breathability of fabrics is a crucial consideration for human comfort
[6]. As shown in Fig. 2b, the SFF fabric prepared in this work achieved
the best air permeability among the different finishing methods, and is
only 10.2% lower than the uncoated pristine cotton fabric. As a contrast,
the breathability was reduced by around 31.2% by other finishing
methods. This could be easily explained by the characteristics of each
technology. The hydrophobic foam finishing method with low liquid-
carrying can only treat the shallow layer of the fabric rather than
blocking the pores between yarns. It can also be verified from Fig. 1j,
where the pores of SFF fabric still remain unobstructed, similar to the
pristine fabric. While other methods such as soaking treatment have
excessively high liquid-carrying rate, which eventually resulted in a
higher degree of pore blocking.
2.3. Wettability of SFF fabric
PDMS is normally cured at 80 ◦ C for 2 h. In this work, we have
explored the effect of drying temperature and drying time on super­
hydrophobicity of coated fabrics. As shown in Fig. S4a, when the drying
time is 120 min, the contact angle of the SFF fabric increases with the
increases of drying temperature. Once the temperature exceeds 120 ◦ C,
the contact angle reaches 150◦ . At 150 ◦ C, the SFF fabric obtains highest
contact angle of 155.6 ± 1.7◦ . The effect of drying duration on super­
hydrophobicity is shown in Fig. S4b. As the drying time increases, the
CA varies between 145 and 157◦ with the curing temperature fixed at
150 ◦ C. The effect of drying temperature and time on hydrophobicity is
due to the gradual decomposition of SDS at high temperatures. Based on
these results, the optimum drying temperature is 150 ◦ C and drying time
is 2 h for preparing the superhydrophobic fabrics.
Furthermore, the excellent hydrophobicity of SFF fabric can also be
illustrated by the bouncing experiment of water droplets on the surface
[47]. A high-speed camera was used to capture the dynamic process of
water droplets bouncing on the surface of SFF fabric (Fig. 2c). When a
10 μL water droplet was released from a fixed height of 20 mm, the
water droplet bounced off the SFF surface for 5 times. This indicates the
superior superhydrophobic properties of SFF fabrics with low adhesion.
Common fabrics are susceptible to various contaminants encoun­
tered during use. The superhydrophobic fabric can avoid being
contaminated. Herein, the self-cleaning ability of SFF surface was
investigated using coffee powder as a model contaminant. Firstly, 0.05 g
of coffee powder was spread on the surface of pristine fabric and SFF
fabric. 4 ml of water was injected on both surfaces. It can be observed
that the pristine fabric was wetted and the coffee powder residues were
left on the surface. On contrary, the SFF fabric remained dry, and the
coffee powder on the surface was thoroughly cleaned (Fig. 2d). Apart
from dry contaminants, fabrics are also susceptible to contamination by
liquids. In order to demonstrate the liquid repellency property of the SFF
surface, honey water, milk, coffee, and tea were selected as represen­
tatives. The SFF surface was not penetrated by the above liquid droplets,
which signifies excellent liquid repellency of the SFF fabrics (Fig. 2e). In
addition, this technology can be used for a variety of other substrates,
such as ordinary A4 paper (Fig. 2f), filter paper (Fig. 2g), polyester fabric
(Fig. 2h), melamine sponge (Fig. 2i).
Foam finishing is an industrialized fabric preparation process and
has an excellent prospect for large-scale production. We prepared a large
piece of SFF fabric with a size of 60*60 cm2 through the hydrophobic
foam finishing method (Fig. S5). As shown in Video S1, the water
droplets can rebound easily from the surface. There is no water droplet
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Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245
infiltration or residue on the surface of the SFF fabric, which shows
excellent superhydrophobic stability of the SFF surface in large-scale
preparation.
2.4. Double-sided heterochromatic superhydrophobic fabrics and
superhydrophobic patterned fabrics
To demonstrate the controllability of the current foam finishing
method, colorful superhydrophobic fabric were prepared by adding
various dyeing agents into SFF (the dyes do not alter the super­
hydrophobicity of the fabrics). Several hydrophilic dyes, including
methylene blue, erythrosine, and sodium fluorescein were used as the
main toning pigments, and different colors could be obtained by con­
trolling the amount of these components in the mixed dyes. As shown in
Fig. 3a, various colored SFF fabric surface was obtained and the colors
were decorated onto the surface evenly. The optical images of water
droplets show excellent superhydrophobicity.
It has been a challenge to prepare heterochromatic fabrics through
conventional fabric finishing methods. In the current work, double-sided
heterochromatic superhydrophobic fabric was developed easily owing
to the low liquid-carrying characteristics of the superhydrophobic foam
used. By applying two different colors of HFFs onto each side of the
treated fabric surface, a double-sided heterochromatic super­
hydrophobic foam finishing fabric is obtained (Fig. 3b). The colors of
both sides are independent without interference and the water droplets
dyed with MB can roll over the surfaces.
In addition, based on the low liquid-carrying characteristics of the
superhydrophobic foam finishing method, customizable super­
hydrophobic patterns can be easily prepared. To enable such patterning,
several templates with regular and irregular patterns in hollow area
were prepared in advance. Then the as-prepared template was put onto
fabric, a thin layer of HFFs were applied to the uncovered portion of the
surface. After drying, the superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic pattern
was achieved. As shown in Fig. 3c, d, customized patterns such as tri­
angle, circle, and cartoon ducks were easily and quickly obtained by this
foam finishing method. Moreover, the boundary between the super­
hydrophobic patterned area and the hydrophilic area is clear. The con­
tact angle of the superhydrophobic area can reach 156.5 ± 1.2◦ , while
the covered part remains superhydrophilic.
2.5. Demonstration and mechanism study of unidirectional water
transport function of Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric
More noteworthy is a Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric,
which can also be developed by the foam finishing method. In order to
obtain a Janus fabric, the thickness of fabric and amount of SFFs should
be carefully controlled. In this work, the thickness of the fabric was
0.241 mm and a controlled amount of SFF was applied on one side of the
fabric. Since the hydrophobic finishing foam only carries a small amount
of finishing liquid, the finishing liquid just penetrated a shallow depth
into the fabric surface. The other side was not affected and remained
hydrophilic. As a result, the Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric
was prepared. The SEM image of the superhydrophobic surface of Janus
fabric is shown in Fig. 4a. The superhydrophobic side of the fabric fiber
is covered with a layer of obvious micro-nano particles. While the fiber
surface of the hydrophilic side on the reverse side remains at its pristine
state (Fig. 4b).
Furthermore, the Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric has a
high wettability contrast on both sides. As show in Fig. 4c, the methy­
lene blue dyed water droplets stayed on the superhydrophobic surface
with a spherical shape, and the water contact angle was 153.8 ± 1.9◦ . In
the meantime, the dyed water droplets spread quickly on the hydro­
philic side and eventually penetrated the fabric. Fig. 4d exhibits the
change of contact angles on hydrophilic surface, the CA was around
130◦ once the water droplet was in contact with the hydrophilic surface,
then the contact angle decreased to below 60◦ within 6 s, and eventually
X. Xie et al.
Fig. 3. (a) SFF fabrics dyed with hydrophobic finishing foams of different colors; (b) Double-sided heterochromatic superhydrophobic fabric with one side in red and
the other in blue; (c) Simple superhydrophilic/hydrophobic patterns (triangle and circular) and (d) complex pattern (duck) prepared by HFF method, inset in (c) is
the contact angle of superhydrophobic area. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
the water droplets diffused into the fabric completely within 50 s.
The asymmetric wettability of the Janus superhydrophobic/hydro­
philic fabric exhibits an interesting “diode-like” unidirectional water
transport function. As shown in Video S2, water was continuously
dripping onto the hydrophilic surface of the Janus fabric. Water spreads
out on the hydrophilic surface, but fabric remains impenetrable. In
contrast, when water was dripped onto the superhydrophobic surface of
the Janus fabric, it passes through the fabric within a few seconds, as
shown in Video S3.
To further verify the unidirectional water transport ability of the
Janus fabric, we used the contact angle measure device to capture the
droplet motion process. By continuously injecting 50 μL water onto the
hydrophilic surface of the Janus fabric at a rate of 10 μL/s, it was
observed that water cannot pass through the fabric (Fig. 4e). However,
when the Janus hydrophilic and hydrophobic sides were turned over
(the hydrophilic surface was slightly pre-wetted), the water penetrated
quickly from the superhydrophobic surface to the hydrophilic surface
within 2 s (Fig. 4f).
During preparation of Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabrics,
the controllable amount of the finishing liquid can only cover the outer
layer of the fabric fully, and the amount is diminishing moving inside the
fabric yarns. This would create a wetting gradient from the super­
hydrophobic side to the hydrophilic side. The schematic diagram of
unidirectional water transport on the Janus fabric is shown in Fig. 5a.
When the water droplets contact the superhydrophobic surface of Janus
fabric, the low surface energy of the superhydrophobic surface interacts
with the surface tension of the droplets to make the water droplets
spherical unable to spread. The gravity, the capillary force of the fabric,
and the driving force along the wetting gradient work together to enable
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Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245
the liquid penetrate to the hydrophilic side.
To explain the mechanism of unidirectional water transportation of
the Janus fabric in detail, a simplified quasi static physical model is
established as shown in Fig. 5c, d. The driving force for water droplet
transportation is produced by the surface tension (Fs), gravity (Fg) and
capillary force (Fc) of the water droplet, which can be calculated via the
following equations:
D2
FS πγwater (1)
2r
Fc = πγwater D∙cosθ (2)
Fg = ρgV (3)
where γwater, D, r and θ are the surface tension of water, the pore
diameter, the radius of the water droplet and the WCA, respectively. ρ
and V are the density and volume of the water droplet, respectively, and
ɡ is the gravitational acceleration. Janus fabric has a wettability
gradient from superhydrophobic to hydrophilic, and the direction of Fc
is from the superhydrophobic side to the hydrophilic side. When water
droplets were put on the superhydrophobic side, under the joint action
of Fg, Fs and Fc, the droplet is forced through the superhydrophobic
region and to be in contact with the hydrophilic area (Fig. 5c ii). The
resultant force of the driving force in the advancing direction is given as:
F = Fs + Fg + Fc (4)
When the water droplets reaches the hydrophilic area, the contact
angle (θ) decreases and the capillary force Fc increases. This would
further accelerate the transportation of droplets from the
X. Xie et al.
superhydrophobic side to the hydrophilic side (Fig. 5c iii).
The schematic diagram of water spreading on the hydrophilic surface
of the Janus fabric is shown in Fig. 5b. When water droplets are in
contact with the hydrophilic surface of the Janus fabric, the droplets
spread quickly on the hydrophilic surface but cannot penetrate the
fabric. The simplified quasi-static physical model of water spreading is
shown in Fig. 5d. Water droplets spread on the fabric under the action of
capillary force. However, once water droplets reaches the hydrophobic
area, the contact angle θ would exceed 90◦ , and the capillary force will
impose a restriction on water droplet transportation from the hydro­
philic side to superhydrophobic side. The resultant force of the driving
force in the advancing direction is showed as:
F = Fs + Fg − Fc
With increasing of penetration depth, the hydrophobicity of the
fabric increases, thus θ increases. As a result, the capillary resistance (Fc)
increases. Once the capillary resistance balances with gravity and sur­
face tension, water droplet stops its motion towards the super­
hydrophobic side.
The superhydrophobic foam finishing method is a widely applicable
method for preparing Janus materials, and can also be used for various
Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245
Fig. 4. SEM images of (a) superhydrophobic
surface and (b) hydrophilic surface of a
Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric;
(c) The optical photo of water droplets on
superhydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces
of the Janus fabric. Inset shows water contact
angle on the superhydrophobic surface; (d)
Water contact angle of hydrophilic surface
varies with dwell time; (e) Water spreading
on the hydrophilic surface of Janus fabric; (f)
Water transport from superhydrophobic sur­
face to superhydrophilic surface on the Janus
superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric.
other substrates, such as filter paper, ordinary A4 paper, polyester fab­
ric, denim and so on (Fig. S6). As shown in Video S4, water droplets roll
off easily on the superhydrophobic surface and spread instantly on the
hydrophilic surface of the Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic filter
paper.
The mechanical properties of pristine fabrics, pristine fabrics treated
at 150 ◦ C, and SFF fabrics after treatment were carried out by using a
universal mechanical testing machine. As shown in Fig. 5e and data
summarized in Table 1, compared with the pristine fabric, the me­
chanical break force of the pristine fabric treated at 150 ◦ C for 120 min
only decreased by 1.28% (warp direction) and 4.69% (weft direction).
Compared with the pristine fabric, the mechanical strength of SFF fabric
only decreased by 2.75% (warp direction) and 4.85% (weft direction).
(5)
In order to investigate the resistance of SFF fabrics to water and
various organic solvents, the SFF fabrics were soaked in water, acetone,
ethanol, and n-hexane. The SFF fabric was submerged into the liquid
surface with the help of a glass rod, and then the container was sealed to
prevent the evaporation of the liquids. As shown in Fig. 5f, after SFF
fabric was soaked in water, acetone, ethanol, and n-hexane for 24 h and
72 h, the contact angle still exceeded 155◦ , displaying excellent resis­
tance to water and organic solvent. This is attributed to the stable
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X. Xie et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 426 (2021) 131245

Fig. 5. (a) Schematic diagram of water droplets passing through Janus fabric when the superhydrophobic side facing upwards; (b) Schematic diagram of water
droplets spreading on Janus fabric when the hydrophilic side facing upwards; (c) The detailed process of water droplets passing through Janus fabric; (d) The detailed
process of droplet spreading on Janus fabric; (e) Tensile strength of pristine fabric, pristine fabric treated at 150℃ for 120 min and SFF fabric; (f) WCAs of SFF fabric
after soaking in various liquids for 24 h and 72 h; (g) WCAs of SFF fabric after repeated abrasion cycles.

chemical properties of PDMS after high temperature curing, and it ad­
heres tightly to the surface of the fabric.
The variation of WCA of SFF fabric with the abrasion cycles is shown
in Fig. 5g. After 160 abrasion cycles, the SFF fabric can still achieve
superhydrophobicity, with a contact angle of 152.0 ± 0.56◦ , as shown in
the inset of Fig. 5g. As the number of abrasion cycles continually
increased, the hydrophobicity gradually decreased. After more than 200
cycles, the contact angle decreased to 146.6 ± 1.02◦ , but the water
repellency still remains at a high level, as shown in Fig. 5g. Furthermore,
SFF fabric still showed superhydrophobicity after oxygen plasma
etching treatment for 150 s (Fig. S7). The SFF fabric still retained its
excellent superhydrophobicity over long term placement (8 months)

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Table 1 was dropwise added to the mixture solution. Finally, the dispersion was
Mechanical properties of pristine cotton fabric, pristine cotton fabric after stirred with a blender at 2500 rpm for 3 min to obtain the hydrophobic
150 ◦ C, and SFF fabric. finishing foam (HFF).
Pristine fabric Pristine fabric SFF fabric
(20℃) (150℃) (150℃)
4.3. Preparation of superhydrophobic foam finishing fabrics
Tensile force at 538.00 ± 23.73 531.12 ± 12.42 523.21 ± 12.17
breakage (N) (warp) (warp) (warp)
386.75 ± 5.39 368.60 ± 12.33 367.99 ± 3.53 Before preparing superhydrophobic foam finishing fabric (SFF fab­
(weft) (weft) (weft) ric), the cotton fabric was cleaned with acetone, ethanol, and deionized
Elongation at break 8.81 ± 0.55 8.81 ± 0.36 10.15 ± 0.22 water in sequence with ultrasonication, and then dried in an oven at 60
(%) (warp) (warp) (warp)
21.04 ± 0.97 20.48 ± 1.12 24.57 ± 0.51
℃. Subsequently, a certain amount of HFF was coated onto the cotton
(weft) (weft) (weft) fabric. The large amount of air bubbles carried by the foam would burst
Strength reduction 0 (warp) 1.28 (warp) 2.75 (warp) upon touching the cotton fabric, leaving the superhydrophobic finishing
(%) 0 (weft) 4.69 (weft) 4.85 (weft) solution on the fiber surface. The as-prepared cotton fabric was then
dried and cured at 150 ℃ for 2 h and aged for two days at room tem­
under ambient condition (Fig. S8). perature to obtain SFF fabric.

3. Conclusion 4.4. Preparation of Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic fabric

We have developed an environmentally friendly foam finishing
method for superhydrophobic fabrics. This method does not require
organic solvents, is fluorine-free, and saves nearly 60% of the materials.
The as-prepared SFF fabric showed excellent superhydrophobicity, and
the water droplets easily bounced off from its surface. Besides, it can
resist the contamination by various model liquid contaminants and solid
powder. Compared with other traditional methods for preparing
superhydrophobic surfaces, foam finishing exhibited low-liquid-
carrying rate, high air permeability, and superior retention of the me­
chanical strength.
In addition, the superhydrophobic foam finishing method can be
easily and quickly used for heterochromatic superhydrophobic fabrics,
hydrophobic patterned fabrics, and Janus superhydrophobic/hydro­
philic fabrics. The Janus fabric exhibited a “diode-like” unidirectional
water transport function. Moreover, this method can be also applied to
the development of customizable personalized superhydrophobic fab­
rics and functional superhydrophobic fabrics with good breathability
and sweat-wicking function. The method can also be extended to various
substrates such as paper, filter paper, melamine sponge, etc. It is a
universal hydrophobic finishing technology with broad application
prospects.
4. Experimental section
4.1. Materials
Sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS, CP), methylene blue trihydrate were
purchased from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent (China). Ltd. Fumed silica
nanoparticles (SNPs, hydrophilic 99.8%, 7–40 nm), 1-dodecanol (DDA,
>99.0%) were purchased from Aladdin Bio-Chem Technology Co. Ltd.
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, Sylgard-184) were purchased from Dow
Corning, America. The cotton fabric was purchased from Shanghai
Textile Industry Institute of Technical Supervision. Erythrosine B so­
dium salt (85%), Rhodamine B (RhB, AR) and fluorescein sodium salt
(AR) were purchased from Shanghai Macklin Biochemical Co., Ltd.
Polyester/polyurethane fabric (95% polyester and 5% polyurethane),
thick cotton, melamine sponge, plain paper and filter paper were all
purchased from local shops.
4.2. Preparation of hydrophobic finishing foam
The preparation process of Janus superhydrophobic/hydrophilic
fabric is almost the same as mentioned above, except that only one side
of the cotton fabric was wetted with finishing solution. Besides, the
fabric used is thicker and the amount of HFF should be well controlled so
that only one side was coated with SFF.
4.5. Characterization
The morphology of the treated cotton fabric was examined by using a
field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM, Nova NanoSEM
230, Czech Republic) at 5.0 kV. An energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer
(EDS) attached to the FESEM was used for chemical composition anal­
ysis. The water contact angle of all sample was measured by using a
contact angle measure device (Dataphysics OCA25, Germany). The
volumes of droplets used for static contact angle measurements are 4 µL.
Average water contact angle was obtained by measuring the same
sample at five different positions. The distribution of nanoparticles
stained with fluorescent dyes in the foam was observed by confocal laser
scanning microscope (CLSM, Nikon C2, Japan). Abrasion test was
measured on Y571B color fastness to rubbing using a tester supplied by
Nan Tong HongDa Experiment Instruments Co., Ltd. The sample was
prepared into a size of 50 × 200 mm, rubbing with cotton blank for a
certain number of cycle. In addition, the permeability was measured
with a fully automatically air permeability instrument following the
YG461E-11 test standard. The test sample size is 200 × 200 mm2 and the
test pressure is 400 Pa. Before the fabric permeability test, the sample
was placed in a constant temperature and humidity room with the
temperature of 20 ± 2℃ and humidity of 65 ± 4% for 24 h. The reported
air permeability is the average of 10 test results. The foaming process
was carried out by using an electric stirrer (60SH, LICHEN, China). The
stirring speed was 2500 rpm, and the stirring time was 2 min. A uni­
versal mechanical testing machine (HD026S, HONGDA, China) was used
to test the tensile strength of fabrics. The clamp distance was 100.0 mm
and the width of the test sample is 50.0 mm according to the standard
test method GB/T3923.1–2013. The tensile speed was 100.00 mm/min.
The dynamic water droplet bouncing process was recorded with a high-
speed camera (Fastcam SA1.1, PHOTRON, Japan), the size of the droplet
was 10 μL and the distance between the droplet and the substrate was
20 mm.

Firstly, 0.6 g of PDMS was added to 40 ml of deionized water and
stirred under ultrasound for 10 min. Secondly, 0.1 g of SDS, 0.6 g of
fumed SNPs and 0.04 g of DDA were added into above solution under
ultrasonic stirring. Vigorous ultrasonic stirring was continued for 10 min
after the addition of the chemicals before PDMS curing agent (0.06 g)
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

9
X. Xie et al.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank National Natural Science Foundation of China
(22075046, 51972063), Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young
Scholar of Fujian Province (2020J06038), Natural Science Foundation
of Fujian Province (2019J01256), China Postdoctoral Science Founda­
tion (Pre-station) (Project No. 2019TQ0061), and 111 Project (No.
D17005).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.131245.
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