An uncoupled strategy inspired by the rice leaf surface for textile-based multi-protective wearables

With the increasing focus on textile-based multi-protective wearables, researchers have identified that the hydrophilicity of conductive materials significantly impacts the long-term stability of devices in humid environments. Existing hydrophobic encapsulation techniques often rely on fluorine- or silicon-based chemicals, which raise environmental concerns and compromise conductivity. This study presents a multi-protective wearable device fabricated through a bioinspired, multiscale design to overcome these challenges. The device features a hierarchical micro/nanotopography, achieved by incorporating copper sulfide (CuS) microstructures and fully bio-derived hydrophobic nanoparticles. This integration enables the functional uncoupling of conductivity and hydrophobicity. The resulting device exhibits superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 157.6°, robust mechanical and chemical durability, and high efficiency in photothermal conversion under both solar and near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. It also demonstrates rapid electrothermal response with stable Joule heating. Furthermore, the textile offers impressive electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of up to 42 dB, high ultraviolet protection, sensitive strain sensing capabilities, and effective oil–water separation with an efficiency of 97.52%. This work provides an environmentally friendly and scalable strategy for developing durable, multi-protective wearables with promising applications in personal thermal management, EMI shielding, and smart sensing technologies. • A novel uncoupled design inspired by the rice leaf surface integrates CuS microstructures and bio-derived hydrophobic nanoparticles, offering enhanced protective performance. • The textile offers multi-functional protection, including EMI shielding, photothermal conversion, and superhydrophobicity for wearable applications. • The coating demonstrates excellent durability against chemical immersion, high-temperature exposure, and abrasion. • The textile achieves high oil-water separation efficiency, showing promise for environmental and thermal management applications.