Tillandsia-Inspired Composite Materials for Atmospheric Water Harvesting
ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
; 2023.
Article
in English
| Scopus | ID: covidwho-2294964
ABSTRACT
Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is a potentially promising small-scale approach to alleviate the water crisis in arid or semiarid regions. Inspired by the asymmetric structure of tillandsia leaves, a plant species native to semiarid regions, we report the development of a bioinspired composite (BiC) to draw moisture for AWH applications. With the advent of the post-COVID era, the nonwoven materials in used masks are discarded, landfilled, or incinerated along with the masks as medical waste, and the negative impact on the environment is inevitable. The nonwoven sheet has porosity, softness, and certain mechanical strength. We innovatively developed BiCs, immobilizing hygroscopic salt with a nonwoven mask for fast vapor liquefaction and using a polymer network to store water. The resulting BiC material manages to achieve a high-water adsorption capacity of 1.24 g g-1 under a low-moderate humidity environment and a high-water release ratio of ca. 90% without the use of photothermal materials, while maintaining high structural integrity in cyclic testing. © 2023 American Chemical Society.
Free radical polymerization; Nonwoven fiber; PAEtMA; Sunlight irradiation; Water shortage; Arid regions; Atmospheric humidity; Plants (botany); Water conservation; Atmospheric water; Composites material; Free-radical polymerization; Non-woven; Semi-arid region; Water harvesting; Water shortages; Free radicals
Full text:
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Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
Scopus
Language:
English
Journal:
ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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