Researchers led by Alon Gorodetsky at the University of Pennsylvania have made a world-first discovery in materials sciences. Daeyeon Lee and his team have accidentally developed a new class of nanostructured materials capable of passively harvesting water from the atmosphere. This new material contains amphiphilic nanopores that serve to condense undersaturated water vapor, ultimately dripping pure water from its surface.
The research group was far along in a project testing the use of hydrophilic nanopore membranes combined with hydrophobic polymer. Then they hit on an amazing finding. Bharath Venkatesh, a former Ph.D. student in Lee’s lab, made an unexpected and thrilling discovery. He was the first to realize that water droplets were forming on the material’s surface. Once Lee made this surprising find, he and his colleague Amish Patel sprang into action. Then they collaborated with leading experts in the field to fact-check their findings.
Accidental Discovery Leads to Innovative Solution
The road to this new synthetic material started when Lee’s lab looked into the possibility of using various nanopore types in tandem. This exploratory project was specifically designed to explore the ways in which hydrophilic and hydrophobic elements might work together. As soon as the pandemic emerged, Lee and his team pivoted. Their interest was piqued when Venkatesh spotted water beads forming out of nowhere on the surface of their fabric.
Fascinated by this unexpected phenomenon, Lee and Patel quickly shipped their design to a collaboration partner for additional validation. What they found was everything they had hoped it would be. Their material could passively pull moisture from the air. This discovery marks a major breakthrough in materials specifically engineered to harvest water from the air. This is doubly critical for our arid communities, where a lack of water supply is a critical challenge.
Unique Properties of Amphiphilic Nanopores
What distinguishes this freshly picked amphiphilic nanoporous material from most other nanoporous materials is found in its amphiphilic nanopores. In traditional nanoporous materials, water interacts with the pore walls, but then tends to get stuck inside the pores. In contrast, the amphiphilic nanopores in Lee’s material enable a more dynamic and tunable interaction with water vapor.
The geometry of these nanopores promotes condensation of water within them. As water vapor condensed, droplets quickly formed and created an ocean that spread onto the new planet’s surface. This self-replenishing process ensures a constant stream of water droplets. As a consequence, it produces a remarkably efficient organismal system for collecting moisture from the air.
Based on their curvature and size, the droplets they saw should have evaporated relatively quickly. When they did, they stayed whole, making it all the more astounding what the material could do—in and out—retaining water, then releasing it. Our research team in particular has made important contributions in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying these amphiphilic properties. It features Russell Pearce and Baekmin Kim, both from Lee’s lab, as well as Stefan Guldin from Technical University of Munich.
Implications for Water Harvesting Technology
The ramifications of this finding go far beyond scholarly interest. Capturing water from the air would be a game changer for dew-harvesting technologies. Such a breakthrough would prove transformative in areas experiencing extreme drought conditions or lacking available, potable water supply. This novel class of materials is indeed an exciting prospect. By innovating the most cost-effective and sustainable solutions, we can fight water scarcity together.
Research conducted by Lee and his team sheds light on these significant gaps, and they’ve laid out their findings in a recent publication in Science Advances. This report explains their approach and findings. The published study can be accessed with the DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adu8349.