title: Water collection behavior and hanging ability of bioinspired fiber.
abstract: Since the water-collecting ability of the wetted  cribellate  spider capture silk is the result of a unique fiber structure, bioinspired fibers have been researched significantly so as to expose a new water-acquiring route in fogging-collection projects. However, the design of the geometry of bioinspired fiber is related to the ability of hanging drops, which has not been investigated in depth so far. Here, we fabricate bioinspired fibers to investigate the water collection behavior and the influence of geometry (i.e., periodicity of spindle knot) on the hanging-drop ability. We especially discuss water collection related to the periodicity of geometry on the bioinspired fiber. We reveal the length of the three phase contact line (TCL) at threshold conditions in conjunction with the maximal volume of a hanging drop at different modes. The study demonstrates that the geometrical structure of bioinspired fiber induces much stronger water hanging ability than that of uniform fiber, attributed to such special geometry that offers effectively an increasing TCL length or limits the contact length to be shorted. In addition, the geometry also improves the fog-collection efficiency by controlling tiny water drops to be collected in the large water drops at a given location.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, P R China.
authors.forename: Yongping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Yongmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009757:Nylons / Q000737:chemistry; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009757:Nylons; D047011:Silk; D014867:Water