Flexible Janus Textile-Based Electroosmotic Pump for Large-Area Unidirectional Positive Water Transport

Moisture management plays a vital role in enhancing the comfort of smart textiles and has attracted widespread attention. However, passive liquid transportation is the main method for clothes, and exhibits insufficient capacity for moisture transfer. Herein, a novel and flexible Janus textile-based electroosmotic pump with directional positive water transport is proposed, based on the mechanism of electroosmosis. This Janus structure is assembled with carbon fabric as the anode and nickel-plated nonwoven as the cathode with a filling of track-etched polycarbonate membrane. Water flow can be directionally transported, even vertically against gravity, driven by low-voltage based on the principle of a microfluidic double electron layer in the microchannels of a nanoporous membrane. The maximum water flux of the proposed electroosmotic pump reached 140.94 mg min(-1) cm(-2) with the driven voltage of 6 V, which is an excellent moisture permeability performance compared with previous membrane-based electroosmotic pumps. Such innovative wearable devices can actively tune the moisture permeability for various conditions. As a proof of concept, the wearable electroosmotic pump is applied to sports insoles and sportswear to achieve durable, sufficient directional water transport. Such moisture transporting wearable devices have potential in areas such as smart clothing and medical protection.