Vaporator. Frank Herbert will be proud. :-) On Wed, 1 Jun 2022, 9:38 am Udhay Shankar N via Silklist, < [email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 4, 2022 at 4:37 AM Thaths via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Keeping this decade-and-a-half-plus thread going.... >> >> https://news.mit.edu/2022/solar-desalination-system-inexpensive-0214 >> > > And another one: > > > https://news.utexas.edu/2022/05/23/low-cost-gel-film-can-pluck-drinking-water-from-desert-air/ > > More than a third of the world’s population lives in drylands, areas that > experience significant water shortages. Scientists and engineers at The > University of Texas at Austin have developed a solution that could help > people in these areas access clean drinking water. > > The team developed a low-cost gel film made of abundant materials that can > pull water from the air in even the driest climates. The materials that > facilitate this reaction cost a mere $2 per kilogram, and a single kilogram > can produce more than 6 liters of water per day in areas with less than 15% > relative humidity and 13 liters in areas with up to 30% relative humidity. > > The research builds on previous breakthroughs from the team, including the > ability to pull water out of the atmosphere and the application of that > technology to create self-watering soil. However, these technologies were > designed for relatively high-humidity environments. > > “This new work is about practical solutions that people can use to get > water in the hottest, driest places on Earth,” said Guihua Yu, professor of > materials science and mechanical engineering in the Cockrell School of > Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering. “This could > allow millions of people without consistent access to drinking water to > have simple, water generating devices at home that they can easily operate.” > > > The water-capturing film can easily be molded into many different shapes. > The new paper appears in Nature Communications. > > The researchers used renewable cellulose and a common kitchen ingredient, > konjac gum, as a main hydrophilic (attracted to water) skeleton. The > open-pore structure of gum speeds the moisture-capturing process. Another > designed component, thermo-responsive cellulose with hydrophobic (resistant > to water) interaction when heated, helps release the collected water > immediately so that overall energy input to produce water is minimized. > > Other attempts at pulling water from desert air are typically > energy-intensive and do not produce much. And although 6 liters does not > sound like much, the researchers say that creating thicker films or > absorbent beds or arrays with optimization could drastically increase the > amount of water they yield. > > > The process of creating the water-capturing film from its ingredients. > The reaction itself is a simple one, the researchers said, which reduces > the challenges of scaling it up and achieving mass usage. > > “This is not something you need an advanced degree to use,” said Youhong > “Nancy” Guo, the lead author on the paper and a former doctoral student in > Yu’s lab, now a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of > Technology. “It’s straightforward enough that anyone can make it at home if > they have the materials.” > > > A prototype device for capturing water from the air using the new film. > The film is flexible and can be molded into a variety of shapes and sizes, > depending on the need of the user. Making the film requires only the gel > precursor, which includes all the relevant ingredients poured into a mold. > > “The gel takes 2 minutes to set simply. Then, it just needs to be > freeze-dried, and it can be peeled off the mold and used immediately after > that,” said Weixin Guan, a doctoral student on Yu’s team and a lead > researcher of the work. > > The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense > Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and drinking water for soldiers > in arid climates is a big part of the project. However, the researchers > also envision this as something that people could someday buy at a hardware > store and use in their homes because of the simplicity. > > Yu directed the project. Guo and Guan co-led experimental efforts on > synthesis, characterization of the samples and device demonstration. Other > team members are Chuxin Lei, Hengyi Lu and Wen Shi. > _______________________________________________ > Silklist mailing list > Manage your membership here: > https://lists.digeratus.in/postorius/lists/silklist.lists.digeratus.in/
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