A Synergistic Approach to Atmospheric Water Scavenging

An abundant supply of fresh water is one of the leading
challenges
of the 21st century (UNESCO. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2018:
Nature-Based Solutions for Water;UNESCO: Paris, France, 2018; p 154). Here we describe
a new approach to scavenge atmospheric water that employs a hierarchically
ordered porous material with embedded particles (Lash, M. H.; Jordan, J. C.; Blevins, L. C.; Fedorchak, M. V.; Little, S. R.; McCarthy, J. J.Non-Brownian Particle-Based Materials with Microscale
and Nanoscale Hierarchy. Ang. Chem. Int. Ed.201554, 5854−5858). This composite uses structure to amplify
native material performance to realize synergy between the capture
and storage and to ultimately qualitatively change the adsorption
behavior of the hydrogel (from unfavorable to favorable). In this
way we can capture moisture at significantly lower relative humidities
than would otherwise be feasible with the native materials. Not only
does this approach pose the potential for a cheap and low-energy source
of clean water but it could also be modified for application across
a variety of condensable vapor reclamations.