Molecularly Engineered Eco-friendly Smart Fabrics with Photoswitchable Wettability: from Highly Hydrophobic to Superhydrophilic

Yi-Ran Wang; Bo-Lun Feng; Hong-Fei Jiang; Lin Zhang; Bin Chen; Hao-Kai Yuan; Lu Wang; Chuan-Yong Zong

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3728-0

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Molecularly Engineered Eco-friendly Smart Fabrics with Photoswitchable Wettability: from Highly Hydrophobic to Superhydrophilic

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-23

- Molecularly Engineered Eco-friendly Smart Fabrics with Photoswitchable Wettability: from Highly Hydrophobic to Superhydrophilic
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 10, Pages: 3490-3500(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Extreme Environment-tolerant Specialty Chemicals, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
- Author bio：
  
  chm_zongcy@ujn.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3728-0
  CLC：
- Received：09 April 2026，
  
  Accepted：25 April 2026，
  
  Online First：06 July 2026，
  
  Published：05 October 2026
- Accepted：
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Wang, Y. R.; Feng, B. L.; Jiang, H. F.; Zhang, L.; Chen, B.; Yuan, H. K.; Wang, L.; Zong, C. Y. Molecularly engineered eco-friendly smart fabrics with photoswitchable wettability: from highly hydrophobic to superhydrophilic. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3490–3500

Yi-Ran Wang, Bo-Lun Feng, Hong-Fei Jiang, et al. Molecularly Engineered Eco-friendly Smart Fabrics with Photoswitchable Wettability: from Highly Hydrophobic to Superhydrophilic[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3490-3500.
Wang, Y. R.; Feng, B. L.; Jiang, H. F.; Zhang, L.; Chen, B.; Yuan, H. K.; Wang, L.; Zong, C. Y. Molecularly engineered eco-friendly smart fabrics with photoswitchable wettability: from highly hydrophobic to superhydrophilic. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3490–3500 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3728-0.

Yi-Ran Wang, Bo-Lun Feng, Hong-Fei Jiang, et al. Molecularly Engineered Eco-friendly Smart Fabrics with Photoswitchable Wettability: from Highly Hydrophobic to Superhydrophilic[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3490-3500. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3728-0.

摘要

A fluorine-free azo-copolymer smart fabric shows reversible photoswitchable wettability from hydrophobic to superhydrophilic

with robust chemical and mechanical stability

enabling diverse

rewritable wettability patterns

via

selective light exposure.

Abstract

Bioinspired smart surfaces enable reversible regulation of surface wettability

which is increasingly important for the advancement of surface and interface science. Herein

a novel fluorine-free photoresponsive azo-copolymer was rationally designed and synthesized

via

a molecular engineering strategy involving the synergistic integration of photoresponsive azobenzene moieties and low-surface-energy organosilicon segments. A facile solution dip-coating method was employed to construct photoresponsive smart fabric surfaces. Benefiting from the excellent reversible trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene moieties within the azo-copolymer

the resulting coating achieved a notable surface energy variation of up to 32.75 mN·m

–1

. The as-prepared smart fabrics exhibited rapid

reversible wettability switching between high hydrophobicity (water contact angle of about 135°) and superhydrophilicity (0°) within 120 s under alternating UV and visible light irradiation. Meanwhile

the smart fabric surfaces exhibited outstanding chemical and mechanical robustness

enabling resistance to harsh environmental conditions

repeated abrasion tests

and various mechanical deformations

such as stretching

curling

and folding. More importantly

as a proof-of-concept demonstration

diverse rewritable wettability patterns were conveniently fabricated on a smart fabric surface

via

selective light exposure. This simple and effective strategy

together with the as-developed smart surfaces

holds great promise for application in information storage

biosensors

and microreactors.

关键词

Keywords

references

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