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requerdanos [soylentnews.org] writes:

A scientist named Dr. Shing-Chung (Josh) Wong has developed "a bio-inspired approach for a novel bead-on-string nanofiber with hydrophobicity/ hydrophilicity simultaneously by electrospinning-enabled technique, that can be used as a high-performance water harvester [phys.org]" to collect potable water from the air, even in desert environments:

To miniaturize water generation and improve the efficiency, Wong and his students at the University of Akron turned to electrospun polymers, a material they had already worked with for more than a decade. Electrospinning uses electrical forces to produce polymer fibers ranging from tens of nanometers up to 1 micrometer—an ideal size to condense and squeeze water droplets out of the air. These nanoscale fiber polymers offer an incredibly high surface-area-to-volume ratio, much larger than that provided by the typical structures and membranes used in water distillers.

By experimenting with different combinations of polymers that were hydrophilic—which attracts water—and hydrophobic—which discharges water, the group concluded that a water harvesting system could indeed be fabricated using nanofiber technology. Wong's group determined that their polymer membrane could harvest 744 mg/cm2/h, which is 91 percent higher than similarly designed membranes without these nanofibers.

Unlike existing methods, Wong's harvester could work in arid desert environments because of the membrane's high surface-area-to-volume ratio. It also would have a minimal energy requirement.

Wong says that the device should be inexpensive to construct, and he's looking for funding to build a prototype.

Original Submission