Natural biological surfaces enable directional liquid transport and storage due to the specific characteristics and surface morphologies. Inspired by these natural mechanisms, it is of interest to have materials with an asymmetric surface energy or structures to achieve unidirectional liquid transportation. Herein, a dual-liquid-diode (DLD) Janus mesh with asymmetric superwettability on the two sides has been designed via electrospraying, with one side being superoleophobic/hydrophilic and the other side being superhydrophobic/oleophilic. The DLD Janus mesh was designed to enable unidirectional transportation of both oil and water in the opposite direction concurrently, in contrast to Janus membranes that were developed for a single liquid. Oil and water can unidirectionally pass through the DLD Janus mesh without an external energy supply in both air and liquid environments. This unique property enables the mesh with high flexibility in controllable multiphase liquid transportation scenarios. The DLD Janus mesh demonstrates promise for future applications in smart liquid separation, on-demand oil–water delivery, and fluid valve technologies.
Postoperative adhesion (PA) caused by the combination of proteins, inflammatory response and bacterial infection poses substantial challenges for polypropylene meshes (PPMs) based hernioplasty. Herein, inspired by the peritoneum, a Janus PPMs with side-specific functions was developed via a surface-initiated photoiniferter-mediated polymerization technology. A physical barrier composed of zwitterionic polymer brushes (PS) was firstly constructed on the one side of the PPMs, while the polymethacrylic acid (PMAA) brushes acting as the linker for bioactive nanoparticles (HAP) were precisely situated on the opposite surface subsequently. Our findings reveal that the mesh surface modified with PS demonstrated significant antifouling property that more than 99% of protein adhesion could be inhibited even after the co-incubation for 72 h in the crucial test. Meanwhile, on the other surface of the PPMs modified with HAP achieved satisfactory ROS-scavenging, inflammation-inhibiting and cell adhesion-promoting properties as well as good bactericidal performance (killing rate > 99.9%). Furthermore, the Janus PPMs could maintain comparable mechanical property with pristine meshes. Equipped with the above multiple merits and asymmetric property, the constructed Janus PPMs demonstrated effective treatment for abdominal hernia defects in vivo without any PA formation. Overall, this study duplicates the unique characteristics of peritoneum onto PPMs to successfully address postoperative complications of the hernioplasty and also offers a versatile and innovative idea to construct asymmetrical functions on the one implant. Statement of Significance The implantation of surgical meshes in the hernia defect provides additional firm support to reinforce the abdomen fascia in tension-free way. However, multiple post-surgery complications induced tissue adhesions is of great challenges for commercial mesh-based hernioplasty. Although material designing and surface modification might circumvent these limitations partly, the construction of side-specific biofunctions on the commercial mesh surfaces is very challenging because of its porous structure. Herein, we demonstrate a feasible and promising approach to construct asymmetric biofunctions on the opposite sides of network structured polypropylene mesh, which is rarely achieved previously. The fabricated Janus PPMs maintains the inherent long-term mechanical support; meanwhile, the opposite sides of PPMs could perform multiple biofunctions independently.
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）