All-day fresh water harvesting by microstructured hydrogel membranes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33990601.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-23174-0 and PMC identifier 8121874.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Solar steam water purification and fog collection are two independent processes that could enable abundant fresh water generation. We developed a hydrogel membrane that contains hierarchical three-dimensional microstructures with high surface area that combines both functions and serves as an all-day fresh water harvester. At night, the hydrogel membrane efficiently captures fog droplets and directionally transports them to a storage vessel. During the daytime, it acts as an interfacial solar steam generator and achieves a high evaporation rate of 3.64 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> under 1 sun enabled by improved thermal/vapor flow management. With a homemade rooftop water harvesting system, this hydrogel membrane can produce fresh water with a daily yield of ~34 L m<sup>-2</sup> in an outdoor test, which demonstrates its potential for global water scarcity relief.