Record Atmospheric Fresh Water Capture and Heat Transfer with a Material Operating at the Water Uptake Reversibility Limit

• Main Authors: Rieth, Adam Joseph (Contributor), Yang, Sungwoo (Contributor), Wang, Evelyn (Contributor), Dinca, Mircea (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society, 2018-04-13T14:05:52Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 The capture of water vapor at low relative humidity is desirable for producing potable water in desert regions and for heat transfer and storage. Here, we report a mesoporous metal-organic framework that captures 82% water by weight below 30% relative humidity. Under simulated desert conditions, the sorbent would deliver 0.82 g[subscript H2O]g[subscript MOF[superscript -1]], nearly double the quantity of fresh water compared to the previous best material. The material further demonstrates a cooling capacity of 400 kWh m[subscript -3] per cycle, also a record value for a sorbent capable of creating a 20 °C difference between ambient and output temperature. The water uptake in this sorbent is optimized: the pore diameter of our material is above the critical diameter for water capillary action, enabling water uptake at the limit of reversibility.