Hydrophobic Fibers with Hydrophilic Domains for Enhanced Fog Water Harvesting.

Abstract

Fog water collectors (FWCs) present a sustainable solution for arid regions where fog is a primary water source. To improve their efficiency, we developed a durable and high-performance mesh composed of electrospun hydrophobic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fibers combined with hydrophilic cellulose acetate (CA) microbeads. This hybrid design represents a novel biomimetic strategy, mimicking natural fog-harvesting mechanisms by optimizing wetting and drainage. Despite the significant reduction in average fiber diameter, the TPU-CA mesh maintained mechanical strength close to 1 MPa, comparable to pristine TPU. The introduction of hydrophilic domains into a hydrophobic fibrous network is a unique architectural approach that enhanced fog collection performance, achieving a high water harvesting rate of 127 ± 12 mg·cm^-2·h^-1. Remarkably, although the mesh remained predominantly hydrophobic, droplets shed completely from its vertical surface, exhibiting near-zero contact angle hysteresis. This synergistic wetting concept enables performance unattainable with conventional single-wettability meshes. Compared to single-material meshes, the TPU-CA hybrid showed nearly double the water collection efficiency. The innovative interplay between surface chemistry, microscale heterogeneity, and mechanical robustness is key to maximizing water capture and transport, offering a promising path for scalable, efficient FWCs in poor water-stressed regions.