We investigated the wetting property of as many as 45 different liquids on the as-prepared
smart solvent-responsive superoleophobic cotton fabrics (see Table S3). Generally, polar
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liquids wet the surface and nonpolar liquids bead up, as well as a few exceptions. Note that, it is a porous fabric with a surface energy of about 11.5 mN m-1, thus any liquid of low surface tension always associated with high volatility (e.g. n-pentane of 16.2 mN m-1) can wet and
penetrate the fabric quickly by evaporation and condensation no matter how nonpolar it is.
Ether or ester bonding in low polarity liquids also plays a crucial role in wetting according to
the principle of “like dissolves like”. Long alkane chain in the polar liquids (e.g. n-octanol of 27.4 mN m-1) may also reverse the desired wettability.