Ultra-fast spreading on superhydrophilic fibrous mesh with nanochannels

In this paper, we fabricated a TiO2 mesh with ultra-fast spreading superhydrophilic property without UV irradiation. Through electrospinning process followed by calcinations, we obtained meshes with special micropores and nanochannels composite hierarchical structures. Each fiber exhibits a bundle structure of aligned elementary. laments with nanochannels, which should be resulted from phase separation and stretch of electrostatic force during electrospinning process. The mesh shows ultra-fast spreading property within only tens of milliseconds (ms). It is concluded that the special topography offered a multi-scale 3D capillary effect that play crucial role in ultra-fast spreading superhydrophilic property of the mesh. This study provides interesting insights to design novel materials concerning liquid transport and dissipation, which may find its way in various applications. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B. V.