Bioinspired Fibers with Controlled Wettability: From Spinning to Application.

Abstract

Our knowledge on spider silks shows the importance of joining heterogeneous structures and surface chemical compositions in preparing fibers, fibrous surfaces, and 3D materials with a controllable wettability. We start our review with spider silk and proceed to the historical development of nature-inspired spinning processes, their products, and their advantages and disadvantages. Relevant wetting states are then summarized in fiber-based systems. Recent applications are reviewed, including one-dimensional spindle-knotted fibers for highly efficient fog harvesting, long-distance transport, and stimulus-responsive wettability and two-dimensional spindle-knotted fibrous systems for water collection, functional surfaces, and filtration. Finally, we offer some perspective on future research trends regarding biomimetic fibers for wetting-controlled engineering.