Materials

Using sunlight to pull clean water from dry air

Using sunlight to pull clean water from dry air
The key component of the solar-powered water harvester is the metal organic framework (in red) that is able to capture water molecules even in low humidity conditions
The key component of the solar-powered water harvester is the metal organic framework (in red) that is able to capture water molecules even in low humidity conditions 
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The key component of the solar-powered water harvester is the metal organic framework (in red) that is able to capture water molecules even in low humidity conditions
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The key component of the solar-powered water harvester is the metal organic framework (in red) that is able to capture water molecules even in low humidity conditions 
An illustration of the MOF structure
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An illustration of the MOF structure
Though it is still early days for this prototype, the researchers hope to scale it up so that households in water-scarce nations can have easy access to clean drinking water
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Though it is still early days for this prototype, the researchers hope to scale it up so that households in water-scarce nations can have easy access to clean drinking water 
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According to the latest report by the World Health Organization, nearly two billion people lack access to clean drinking water. To address this problem, researchers from UC Berkeley and MIT have created a solar-powered device that can be used in places like the desert to harvest water from a relatively untapped resource: air, which contains an estimated 13,000 trillion liters of water.

To be fair, the idea of harvesting water from air isn't new. Companies such as Warka Water, EcoloBlue and Water Gen have already shown that this can be done. However these water-acquisition systems usually require certain conditions in order to work, such as high humidity levels or a power source. The team behind the solar harvester, led by UC Berkeley's Omar Yaghi, wanted to develop a solution that could be used even by those living in arid and drought-hit regions without access to electricity.

To do this, they turned to a class of synthetic materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which he pioneered more than 20 years ago. These compounds feature a combination of metals that are stitched together with organic molecules in a tinker-toy arrangement.

An illustration of the MOF structure
An illustration of the MOF structure

Doing so creates rigid, porous structures that can trap gaseous and liquid molecules while allowing unwanted elements to flow through. To date, MOFs have been used to capture gasses such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane.

In this case, the water harvester makes use of a zirconium-based MOF that Yaghi and his colleagues at UC Berkeley developed to capture water molecules in 2014. The material, which is sandwiched between a solar absorber and a condenser place, captures water molecules in the air that flows through the open chamber. Then, sunlight heats up the MOF and drives the water molecules toward the condenser where they form into water droplets that drip onto a collector.

Though it is still early days for this prototype, the researchers hope to scale it up so that households in water-scarce nations can have easy access to clean drinking water
Though it is still early days for this prototype, the researchers hope to scale it up so that households in water-scarce nations can have easy access to clean drinking water 

"This work offers a new way to harvest water from air that does not require high relative humidity conditions and is much more energy efficient than other existing technologies," says Evelyn Wang, head of MIT's device research laboratory, whose team designed the system.

According to the study, the prototype was able to extract 2.8 liters (3 quarts) of water from the air over a 12-hour period, using one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of MOF at humidity levels as low as 20 percent.

Describing the results as "a major breakthrough" for harvesting water from air at low humidity, Yaghi says this technology opens the door to what he calls "personalized water," making possible a future where households in poorer countries can make use of the device to produce their own water without having to travel long distances to find it. That said, its application is not limited to supplying clean drinking water. The material's huge surface area could see the device being scaled up and used to irrigate farms, and since the technology is passive, it does not require solar panels or batteries either.

That said, the researchers acknowledge that there is much room for improvement before it can be commercialized. At present, the MOF can absorb only 20 percent of its weight in water and at about US$150 a kilogram, zirconium would put the device beyond the reach of those who need it most. Using the right material could increase the absorption rate by at least 40 percent while keeping costs down. According to Yaghi, the group has already had promising early results using aluminum, which is 100 times cheaper than zirconium.

At the same time, Wang's team is also working on improving the harvesting system so it can produce water round the clock and not just during the day.

"To have water running all the time, you could design a system that absorbs the humidity during the night and evolves it during the day," explains Yaghi. "Or design the solar collector to allow for this at a much faster rate, where more air is pushed in. We wanted to demonstrate that if you are cut off somewhere in the desert, you could survive because of this device. A person needs about a Coke can of water per day. That is something one could collect in less than an hour with this system."

Given that companies such as German chemical producer BASF are already testing MOFs in commercial applications, the researchers are hopeful that it won't be too long before they arrive at a viable solution.

"We have now laid both the experimental and theoretical foundations so that we can screen other MOFs, thousands of which could be made, to find even better materials," says Yaghi. "There is a lot of potential for scaling up the amount of water that is being harvested. It is just a matter of further engineering now."

Yaghi talks about his work in the video below.

The study was published in Science.

Source: UC Berkeley

Pulling drinkable water out of dry air

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4 comments
4 comments
JohnWoods
Just curious: other atmospheric extraction units have a quoted lifespan of ten years (about that of a hot water heater). Does anyone know (too early?) of the lifespan of this new technology. Its affordability would go up with a longer lifespan
Mivoyses
I love that we are developing technology capable of doing such things. But because we can do a thing does it mean we should do a thing? What about the atmospheric affect this would have by pulling water from the air? Would it disturb the normal evaporation cycle by removing water vapor from the air in some areas and then cause droughts downrange where it should have been raining but now can't? Of course that's based on many many systems either residential or commercial/industrial in operation. But if the system is effective it will of course be scaled up so it would only be a matter of time. I just think we need to think our actions through a bit before we jump in.
mc08990
Hasn't this technique been discredited over and over by physicists and engineers? The math just doesn't work. Isn't there too little water in the air in places were this technology is actually needed? There are other problems as well related to energy and heat. See thunderfoot's series on the "Waterseer" for the math.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVsqIjAeeXw
Bruce H. Anderson
Mivoyses poses and interesting question. Given the size of the atmosphere and the demands of humans, I would suspect that the effect would be minimal, perhaps not even measureable. The water that a human ingests is returned to the atmosphere relatively quickly through respiration, perspiration, urination and defecation.