Water scarcity is a ubiquitous problem with its magnitude expected to rise in the near future, and efforts to seek alternative water sources are on the rise.
Harvesting water from air has intrigued enormous research interest among many groups with Scientific American listing this technology as the second most impactful technology that can bring about a massive change in people's lives.
Though conventional desalination offers a huge prospect in mitigating water crisis, its practicality is limited by exorbitant energy requirement.
We find tapping water from moisture-rich air above sea surface to be a sustainable alternative.
We have developed a method to sustainably harvest water from this moisture rich zone employing a nanoporous superhygroscopic hydrogel, which is capable of absorbing water from highly humid atmospheres by over 420% (highest) of its own weight.
Through multiple cycles of atmospheric water absorption-desorption cycles, it is possible to harvest over 10 L water per kg of hydrogel daily.
Atmospheric humidity, an abundant source of water, is widely considered as a redundant resource demanding expense of energy to maintain it under comfortable levels for human habitation. Until now, there have only been a few attempts to harness humidity for applications such as water collection and hygro-induced movements
We develop moisture-scavenging hydrogels capable of absorbing water from humid atmospheres by a few hundered percent of its weight
Solar steam generation as an emerging solar desalination technology has drawn tremendous research attention owing to its enticing prospects in tackling the rising water crisis across the globe. Despite the numerous reports on materials with high evaporation rates, little is known about how the system geometry and ambient conditions impact the evaporation rate.
We develop new and sustainable solar absorber materials for solar steam generation and desalination, and study the system-ambience interactions in the abosbers
