https://sea.mashable.com/science/14143/singapore-university-develops-aerogel-that-turns-air-into-drinking-water

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Science

Singapore university develops special aerogel that turns air into
drinking water

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Singapore university develops special aerogel that turns air into
drinking water
Dale John WongBy Dale John Wong 4 days, 1 hour

Potable water, in many regions on the planet, is a highly
sought-after commodity, and many a pretty penny has been paid by some
governments to secure ample supply for its people.

Over in Singapore, where water is also an extremely prized resource,
a team of engineers at the National University of Singapore (NUS)
have developed a substance that they claim can directly derive water
from the air around us, all without the need for a power source.

Led by Professor Ho Ghim Wei from the NUS Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering, the team have created an aerogel - an
almost-weightless solid material - that is able to reclaim water from
molecules in the air in a manner that doesn't require any sort of
external energy source.

How does it work?

The aerogel's structure resembles a sponge on a microscopic level,
and long snake-like polymers work to attract water molecules using a
sophisticated chemical structure that can quickly and continuously
switch between attracting or repelling water.

[nus-aeroge]

The aerogel absorbs and transforms water molecules from the air into
clean water without the need for a power source. IMAGE: National
University of Singapore

---------------------------------------------------------------------

This means that the aerogel collects water molecules autonomously,
and then converts them into liquid which is released automatically.
In the presence of sunlight, the structure can further speed up the
release of water by transitioning into a completely water-hating
state.

The team reported that about 95 percent of water vapor that passes
through the aerogel comes out as water, and long-term experiments saw
the substance yield water for months completely uninterrupted.

On a grander scale, this process will allow people to tap into a
water resource that has so far been plentiful, but incredibly elusive
- it is estimated that the total amount of moisture in the earth's
atmosphere is sufficient to fill almost half a trillion Olympic-sized
swimming pools.

And while there are already other existing methods to derive water
from the air, this one is the first to function without the need for
an external power source.

So far, the team have reported that one kilogram of aerogel is able
to produce about 17 liters of water per day in a humid environment,
and all tests on the derived water have so far met the standards for
drinking water set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

[water-scar]

IMAGE: United Nations

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Considering that over 1.1 billion of the world's population lack
access to water, and that two thirds of all people may face water
shortages by 2025, the team's project - should it go on to become a
mainstream success - may just prove an invaluable part of the
solution to the planet's water scarcity problem.

The team have already published their project and findings in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal back in October, 2020, and they now
seek industry-level partners to help bring their invention to the
mass market, with mooted practical use cases being in sporting
equipment or survival tools.

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Cover image sourced from National University of Singapore.

TOPICS: Science, Tech, singapore, Water, NUS
 
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