Scalable super hygroscopic polymer films for sustainable moisture harvesting in arid environments.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35589809.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-30505-2 and PMC identifier 9120194.
- 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
Extracting ubiquitous atmospheric water is a sustainable strategy to enable decentralized access to safely managed water but remains challenging due to its limited daily water output at low relative humidity (≤30% RH). Here, we report super hygroscopic polymer films (SHPFs) composed of renewable biomasses and hygroscopic salt, exhibiting high water uptake of 0.64-0.96 g g<sup>-1</sup> at 15-30% RH. Konjac glucomannan facilitates the highly porous structures with enlarged air-polymer interfaces for active moisture capture and water vapor transport. Thermoresponsive hydroxypropyl cellulose enables phase transition at a low temperature to assist the release of collected water via hydrophobic interactions. With rapid sorption-desorption kinetics, SHPFs operate 14-24 cycles per day in arid environments, equivalent to a water yield of 5.8-13.3 L kg<sup>-1</sup>. Synthesized via a simple casting method using sustainable raw materials, SHPFs highlight the potential for low-cost and scalable atmospheric water harvesting technology to mitigate the global water crisis.
Medical subject headings
- Polymers
- Steam