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Song Y, Zeng M, Wang X, Shi P, Fei M, Zhu J. Hierarchical Engineering of Sorption-Based Atmospheric Water Harvesters. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2209134. [PMID: 37246306 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202209134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Harvesting water from air in sorption-based devices is a promising solution to decentralized water production, aiming for providing potable water anywhere, anytime. This technology involves a series of coupled processes occurring at distinct length scales, ranging from nanometer to meter and even larger, including water sorption/desorption at the nanoscale, condensation at the mesoscale, device development at the macroscale and water scarcity assessment at the global scale. Comprehensive understanding and bespoke designs at every scale are thus needed to improve the water-harvesting performance. For this purpose, a brief introduction of the global water crisis and its key characteristics is provided to clarify the impact potential and design criteria of water harvesters. Next the latest molecular-level optimizations of sorbents for efficient moisture capture and release are discussed. Then, novel microstructuring of surfaces to enhance dropwise condensation, which is favorable for atmospheric water generation, is shown. After that, system-level optimizations of sorbent-assisted water harvesters to achieve high-yield, energy-efficient, and low-cost water harvesting are highlighted. Finally, future directions toward practical sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting are outlined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Song
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
| | - Mengyue Zeng
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
| | - Xueyang Wang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
| | - Peiru Shi
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
| | - Minfei Fei
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
| | - Jia Zhu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
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Luo F, Liang X, Chen W, Wang S, Gao X, Zhang Z, Fang Y. Bimetallic MOF-Derived Solar-Triggered Monolithic Adsorbent for Enhanced Atmospheric Water Harvesting. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2023; 19:e2304477. [PMID: 37507817 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202304477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
The development of economical, energy-saving, and efficient metal-organic framework (MOF)-based adsorbents for atmospheric water collection is highly imperative for the rapid advancement of renewable freshwater resource exploitation. Herein, a feasible one-step solvothermal formation strategy of bimetallic MOF (BMOF) is proposed and applied to construct a solar-triggered monolithic adsorbent for enhanced atmospheric water collection. Benefiting from the reorganization and adjustment of topology structure by Al atoms and Fe atoms, the resultant BMOF(3) consisting of Al-fumarate and MIL-88A has a higher specific surface area (1202.99 m2 g-1 ) and pore volume (0.51 cm3 g-1 ), thereby outperforming the parental MOFs and other potential MOFs in absorbing water. Expanding upon this finding, the solar-triggered monolithic adsorbent is further developed through a bottom-up assembly of polyaniline/chitosan layers and hybridized BMOF(3) skeletons on a glass fiber support. The resultant monolithic adsorbent exhibits superior sorption-desorption kinetics, leading to directional water transport and rapid solar-assisted vapor diffusion. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, an exquisite water harvester is constructed to emphasize a high water yield of 1.19 g g-1 per day of the designed monolithic adsorbent. Therefore, the design and validation of bimetallic MOF-derived solar-triggered adsorbent in this work are expected to provide a reference for the large-scale applications of MOF-based atmospheric water harvesting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Luo
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Xianghui Liang
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Weicheng Chen
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Shuangfeng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Xuenong Gao
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Zhengguo Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Yutang Fang
- Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
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Han X, Zhong L, Zhang L, Zhu L, Zhou M, Wang S, Yu D, Chen H, Hou Y, Zheng Y. Efficient Atmospheric Water Harvesting of Superhydrophilic Photothermic Nanocapsule. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2023; 19:e2303358. [PMID: 37488688 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202303358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Drought and water scarcity are two of the world's major problems. Solar-powered sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting technology is a promising solution in this category. The main challenge is to design materials with high water harvesting performance while achieving fast water vapor adsorption/desorption rates. Here, a superhydrophilic photothermic hollow nanocapsule (SPHN) is represented that achieves efficient atmospheric water harvesting in outdoor climates. In SPHN, the hollow mesoporous silica (HMS) is grafted with polypyrrole (PPy) and also loaded with lithium chloride (LiCl). The hollow structure is used to store water while preventing leakage. The hydrophilic spherical nanocapsule and the trapped water produce more free and weakly adsorbed water. Significantly lower the heat of desorption compared to pure LiCl solution. Such SPHN significantly improves the adsorption/desorption kinetics, e.g., absorbs 0.78-2.01 g of water per gram of SPHN at 25 °C, relative humidity (RH) 30-80% within 3 h. In particular, SPHN has excellent photothermal properties to achieve rapid water release under natural sunlight conditions, i.e., 80-90% of water is released in 1 h at 0.7-1.0 kW m-2 solar irradiation, and 50% of water is released even at solar irradiation as low as 0.4 kW m-2 . The water collection capacity can reach 1.2 g g-1 per cycle by using the self-made atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) device. This finding provides a way to design novel materials for efficient water harvesting tasks, e.g., water engineering, freshwater generator, etc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuefeng Han
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Lieshuang Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Lei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Lingmei Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Maolin Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Shaomin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Dongdong Yu
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Huan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Yongping Hou
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
| | - Yongmei Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education School of Chemistry, Beihang University (BUAA), Beijing, 100191, P. R. China
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Sun C, Zhu Y, Shao P, Chen L, Huang X, Zhao S, Ma D, Jing X, Wang B, Feng X. 2D Covalent Organic Framework for Water Harvesting with Fast Kinetics and Low Regeneration Temperature. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202217103. [PMID: 36640156 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202217103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric water harvesting represents a promising technique to address water stress. Advanced adsorbents have been rationally designed to achieve high water uptake, yet their water sorption kinetics and regeneration temperature greatly limit water production efficiency. Herein, we demonstrated that 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs), featuring hydrophobic skeleton, proper hydrophilic site density, and 1D open channels significantly lowered the water diffusion and desorption energy barrier. DHTA-Pa COF showed a high water uptake of 0.48 g/g at 30 % R.H. with a remarkable adsorption rate of 0.72 L/Kg/h (298 K) and a desorption rate of 2.58 L/Kg/h (333 K). Moreover, more than 90 % adsorbed water could be released within 20 min at 313 K. This kinetic performance surpassed the reported porous materials and boosted the efficiency for multiple water extraction cycles. It may shed light on the material design strategy to achieve high daily water production with low-energy input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Sun
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Yuhao Zhu
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Pengpeng Shao
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Liwei Chen
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Xin Huang
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Shuang Zhao
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Dou Ma
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Xuechun Jing
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Bo Wang
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
| | - Xiao Feng
- Frontiers Science Center for High Energy Material, Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan), Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China
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Numerical Modeling and Analysis of Harvesting Atmospheric Water Using Porous Materials. SEPARATIONS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/separations9110364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Nowadays, harvesting water from the atmosphere is becoming a new alternative for generating fresh water. To the author’s best knowledge, no mathematical model has been established to describe the process of harvesting water from the atmosphere using porous materials. This research seeks to develop a new mathematical model for water moisture absorption in porous materials to simulate and assess harvesting atmospheric water. The mathematical model consists of a set of governing partial differential equations, including mass conservation equation, momentum equation, associated parameterizations, and initial/boundary conditions. Moreover, the model represents a two-phase fluid flow that contains phase-change gas–liquid physics. A dataset has been collected from the literature containing five porous materials that have been experimentally used in water generation from the air. The five porous materials include copper chloride, copper sulfate, magnesium sulfate, manganese oxides, and crystallites of lithium bromide. A group of empirical models to relate the relative humidity and water content have been suggested and combined with the governing to close the mathematical system. The mathematical model has been solved numerically for different times, thicknesses, and other critical parameters. A comparison with experimental findings was made to demonstrate the validity of the simulation model. The results show that the proposed mathematical model precisely predicts the water content during the absorption process. In addition, the simulation results show that; during the absorption process, when the depth is smaller, the water content reaches a higher saturation point quickly and at a lower time, i.e., quick process. Finally, the highest average error of the harvesting atmospheric water model is around 1.9% compared to experimental data observed in manganese oxides.
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Yang M, Luo H, Zou W, Liu Y, Xu J, Guo J, Xu J, Zhao N. Ultrafast Solar-Vapor Harvesting Based on a Hierarchical Porous Hydrogel with Wettability Contrast and Tailored Water States. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:24766-24774. [PMID: 35579439 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c03597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Optimizing the water bonding network in an evaporator is significant for efficient solar-driven vapor generation (SVG). Herein, we report a facile one-pot method to regulate the hydrated structure and wettability in a hierarchical porous hydrogel. An ovalbumin (OVA)-polyacrylamide hydrogel foam was fabricated in a cake-making fashion. Because of the enrichment of amphiphilic OVA at the interface, the hydrophobic walls of the air pores in the foam provide vaporization sites and help reduce parasitic heat loss, while the hydrophilic skeleton with the secondary pores effectively pumps capillary water. Notably, the proportion of intermediate water in the foam reaches 87.6% with the melting point as low as -10 °C. All these features contribute to an exceptional evaporation rate of 3.4-4.5 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun and robust SVG performances at high-humidity, weak sunlight, or cold weathers. The strategy of using amphiphilic molecules to optimize the hydrated structures both at the interface and in bulk promises the reasonable design of SVG materials with superior efficiency and weather adaptability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Yang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Heng Luo
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Weizhi Zou
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Yong Liu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
| | - Jinhao Xu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
| | - Jing Guo
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
| | - Jian Xu
- Institute of Low-Dimensional Materials Genome Initiative, College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, P. R. China
| | - Ning Zhao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
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Lu H, Shi W, Guo Y, Guan W, Lei C, Yu G. Materials Engineering for Atmospheric Water Harvesting: Progress and Perspectives. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2110079. [PMID: 35122451 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202110079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is emerging as a promising strategy to produce fresh water from abundant airborne moisture to overcome the global clean water shortage. The ubiquitous moisture resources allow AWH to be free from geographical restrictions and potentially realize decentralized applications, making it a vital parallel or supplementary freshwater production approach to liquid water resource-based technologies. Recent advances in regulating chemical properties and micro/nanostructures of moisture-harvesting materials have demonstrated new possibilities to promote enhanced device performance and new understandings. This perspective aims to provide a timely overview on the state-of-the-art materials design and how they serve as the active components in AWH. First, the key processes of AWH, including vapor condensation, droplet nucleation, growth, and departure are outlined, and the desired material properties based on the fundamental mechanisms are discussed. Then, how tailoring materials-water interactions at the molecular level play a vital role in realizing high water uptake and low energy consumption is shown. Last, the challenges and outlook on further improving AWH from material designs and system engineering aspects are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hengyi Lu
- Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Wen Shi
- Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Youhong Guo
- Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Weixin Guan
- Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Chuxin Lei
- Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Guihua Yu
- Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
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Zhang W, Xia Y, Wen Z, Han W, Wang S, Cao Y, He RX, Liu Y, Chen B. Enhanced adsorption-based atmospheric water harvesting using a photothermal cotton rod for freshwater production in cold climates. RSC Adv 2021; 11:35695-35702. [PMID: 35493142 PMCID: PMC9043253 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra06987j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Solar energy-powered adsorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (ABAWH) is an emerging technology for freshwater production, especially in water-scarce regions that are remote and landlocked. Numerous water adsorbents have been used in ABAWH devices to convert molecule to liquid water. However, it is still challenging to harvest water from the air in cold winter, owing to the water adsorption of sorbents decreasing significantly at low temperature. Herein, we designed and fabricated an ABAWH device by integrating composited ionic liquids (CILs) with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) photothermal materials on the surface of cotton rod fibers. CILs extract water from the air. CNTs enable light-to-heat conversion and drive the solar evaporation process. Importantly, the cotton rods offer a backbone porous structure to maintain its internal temperature at 20 °C under solar irradiation, and thus promote the water adsorption performance of CILs at low environmental temperature. Freshwater is successfully harvested under environment temperature of 6 °C, 30% RH and solar irradiation intensity of 0.6 kW m−2. The water yield can achieve 1.49 kg per m2 per day in an outdoor environment. We believe that the ABAWH device offers a promising approach to effectively harvest water from the air at low temperature and humidity conditions. A photothermal cotton rod is designed for the enhanced atmospheric water absorption and solar evaporation for freshwater production in cold climates.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenchang Zhang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental and Health Effects of Persistent Toxic Substances, School of Environment and Health, Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China .,Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
| | - Yu Xia
- School of Physics and Technology, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro/Nano Structures, Ministry of Education, Wuhan University Wuhan 430072 P. R. China
| | - Zhaotong Wen
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
| | - Wenxia Han
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental and Health Effects of Persistent Toxic Substances, School of Environment and Health, Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
| | - Shaofu Wang
- School of Physics and Technology, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro/Nano Structures, Ministry of Education, Wuhan University Wuhan 430072 P. R. China
| | - Yiping Cao
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
| | - Rong-Xiang He
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
| | - Yumin Liu
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
| | - Bolei Chen
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental and Health Effects of Persistent Toxic Substances, School of Environment and Health, Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China .,Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), Jianghan University Wuhan 430056 P. R. China
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9
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Abstract
Nowadays, the rapidly growing population, climate change, and environment pollution put heavy pressure on fresh water resources. The atmosphere is the immense worldwide and available water source. The Adsorptive Water Harvesting from the Atmosphere (AWHA) method is considered a promising alternative to desalination technologies for remote arid regions. The development of novel adsorbents with advanced water-adsorption properties is a prerequisite for practical realization of this method. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a novel class of porous crystalline solids that bring a great potential for AWHA due to their extremely high specific surface area, porosity, and tailored adsorption properties. This work addresses MIL-160 as a water adsorbent for AWHA. The water-adsorption equilibrium of MIL-160 was studied by volumetric method, the isosteric heat of adsorption was calculated, and finally, the potential of MIL-160 for AWHA was evaluated for climatic conditions of the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, the Sahara, Atacama, and Mojave as reference arid regions. MIL-160 was shown to ensure a maximum specific water productivity of 0.31–0.33 gH2O/gads per cycle. High fractions of water extracted (0.90–0.98) and collected (0.48–0.97) could be achieved at a regeneration temperature of 80 °C with natural cooling of the condenser by ambient air. The specific energy consumption for water production varied from 3.5 to 6.8 kJ/g, which is acceptable if solar heat is used to drive the desorption. The AWHA method employing MIL-160 is a promising way to achieve a fresh water supply in remote arid areas.
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Yang K, Pan T, Lei Q, Dong X, Cheng Q, Han Y. A Roadmap to Sorption-Based Atmospheric Water Harvesting: From Molecular Sorption Mechanism to Sorbent Design and System Optimization. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:6542-6560. [PMID: 33914502 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c00257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH), which uses sorbents to capture water vapor from the air and low-grade energy to produce fresh liquid water, has been recognized as a promising strategy for decentralized water supply in arid areas. This review aims to summarize the latest progress in this field and provide perspectives for the further development of SAWH, focusing on the design of sorbent materials and the optimization of the entire system. We first introduce the water sorption mechanisms on different sorbent materials. Next, we discuss the properties and performances of various sorbents developed for SAWH by categorizing them into specific groups: nanoporous solids, hygroscopic polymers, salt-based composites, and liquid sorbents; for each type of sorbent materials, we have analyzed its advantages and limitations, as well as design strategies. In addition, we discuss the influences of the mass and heat transport of the SAWH system on its overall performance in actual operations, and introduce different types of water harvesters developed for SAWH. In the last section, we outline the challenges in this field from fundamental research and practical application aspects, and describe roadmaps for the future development of this technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaijie Yang
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials (AMPM) Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Tingting Pan
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials (AMPM) Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Qiong Lei
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials (AMPM) Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Xinglong Dong
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials (AMPM) Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Qingpeng Cheng
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials (AMPM) Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yu Han
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials (AMPM) Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
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