Autonomous atmospheric water seeping MOF matrix

G Yilmaz; F L Meng; W Lu; J Abed; C K N Peh; M Gao; E H Sargent; G W Ho

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc8605

Autonomous atmospheric water seeping MOF matrix

Sci Adv. 2020 Oct 16;6(42):eabc8605. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abc8605. Print 2020 Oct.

Authors

G Yilmaz¹, F L Meng¹, W Lu¹, J Abed^{2

3}, C K N Peh¹, M Gao¹, E H Sargent⁴, G W Ho^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117583, Singapore.
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada.
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E4, Canada.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada. [email protected] [email protected].
⁵ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117583, Singapore. [email protected] [email protected].
⁶ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive, Singapore 117575, Singapore.

Abstract

The atmosphere contains an abundance of fresh water, but this resource has yet to be harvested efficiently. To date, passive atmospheric water sorbents have required a desorption step that relies on steady solar irradiation. Since the availability and intensity of solar radiation vary, these limit on-demand desorption and hence the amount of harvestable water. Here, we report a polymer-metal-organic framework that provides simultaneous and uninterrupted sorption and release of atmospheric water. The adaptable nature of the hydro-active polymer, and its hybridization with a metal-organic framework, enables enhanced sorption kinetics, water uptake, and spontaneous water oozing. We demonstrate continuous water delivery for 1440 hours, producing 6 g of fresh water per gram of sorbent at 90% relative humidity (RH) per day without active condensation. This leads to a total liquid delivery efficiency of 95% and an autonomous liquid delivery efficiency of 71%, the record among reported atmospheric water harvesters.

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