2024-07-19 06:00:08
The shortage of drinking water and the difficulties of accessing this vital resource pose major challenges in many regions of the world. It is in this context that researchers have developed a compact device capable of harvesting thehumidity air to producepotable watereven in the most arid areas.
The researchers have developed an innovative device, described in ACS Energy Letterscomposed of fins covered with a material absorbent. These fins trap moisture from the surrounding air, which is then released as drinking water when heated. This prototype might meet the growing need for water, particularly in arid regions.
The Earth’s atmosphere contains trillions of liters of fresh water in the form of vapor. However, collecting this invisible and diluted resource remains a challenge. Current systems mainly capture dew or fogbut in dry areas, new materials such as temperature-sensitive hydrogels temperaturemetal-organic frameworks or zeolites (crystalline aluminosilicates) can extract small amounts of moisture from the air and release the water upon heating.
To make these absorbents practical, they must be integrated into compact and portable devices that use a waste heat source. To this end, Xiangyu Li, Bachir El Fil and their colleagues have developed a moisture collector that meets these specifications.
The researchers designed adsorbent “fins” by inserting copper foil between copper foams coated with commercially available zeolite. Unlike previous studies that focused on material development, this co-design of the adsorbent bedadsorption and material properties have made it possible to obtain thin, compact fins capable of rapidly collecting water.
To demonstrate this concept, they created a device with ten small adsorbent fins placed side by side on a copper base plate, spaced 2 millimeters apart. This configuration optimizes moisture capture in desert-like air with a relative humidity of 10 percent. In one hourthe fins become saturated and then release the trapped moisture when the base reaches 184°C.
Extrapolating these results to 24 collection and release cycles, the team calculated that one liter of absorbent coating on the fins might produce up to 1.3 liters of drinking water per day in air with a relative humidity of 30%. This volume is two to five times greater than that of previously developed devices.
This study opens exciting prospects for rapid moisture capture and water harvesting from dry air, multiple times per day. With further development, this system might be integrated into existing waste heat producing infrastructures, such as buildings or transportation vehicles, to provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution for producing drinking water in arid regions.
Bachir El Fil, co-author of the study, concludes: “This device might help meet the growing demand for water, particularly in areas where access to this resource is limited.”
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