Waterproof fabrics that whisk away sweat could be the latest application of micro-fluidic technology developed by bioengineers at the University of California, Davis. Graduate students Siyuan Xing and Jia Jiang have developed a new textile microfluidic platform using hydrophilic (water-attracting) threads stitched into a highly water-repellent fabric. By creating patterns of threads that suck droplets of water from one side of the fabric, propelling along the threads, the droplets finally expel from the other side. “The new fabric works like human skin, forming excess sweat into droplets that drain away by themselves,” said inventor Tingrui Pan, professor of biomedical engineering.
Unlike conventional fabrics, the water-pumping effect keeps working even when the water-conducting fibres are completely saturated, because of the sustaining pressure gradient generated by the surface tension of droplets. The rest of the fabric stays completely dry and breathable.
