I-Corps: Sustainable Atmospheric Water Harvesting

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种通用的大气集水技术，用于生产饮用水和供水有限的其他用途的水。由于人口增长和气候变化，水资源短缺变得越来越严重。根据世界卫生组织的数据，估计有7.85亿人生活在无法获得清洁水的情况下，人们认识到，水资源短缺是一种日益严重的全球危机。全球对提供安全饮用水而不会因日益依赖瓶装水而造成环境后果的解决方案的兴趣日益浓厚。拟议的大气集水技术可能为解决几乎任何缺乏液态水源的缺水地区的缺水问题提供解决方案。据设想，拟议的技术可用于提供个人制水设备，并可按规模提供基于家庭/设施或社区的供水系统。该i-Corps项目基于大气集水材料和系统的开发，这些材料和系统用于在不消耗电力的情况下从空气中收集和生产水。拟议的大气收集系统使用一种基于生物质的复合材料，旨在作为一种可持续的吸湿盐载体，在广泛的湿度和温度条件下从空气中收集水。此外，拟议的技术直接利用太阳能转化的热量来促进水收集，而不需要复杂的操作系统，并在暴露在空气中时吸收水分，无论组合单元是固定的还是移动的。这项拟议的技术提供了在短缺、污染事件和其他可能中断饮用水服务的问题期间扩大供水能力的潜力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a universal atmospheric water harvesting technology for producing drinking water and water for other uses where water access is limited. Water scarcity has become increasingly severe due to population growth and climate change. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 785 million people live without access to clean water, and it is recognized that a water shortage is a surging global crisis. There is increasing global interest in solutions that provide safe drinking water without the environmental consequences of increasing reliance on bottled water. The proposed atmospheric water harvesting technology may provide a solution to overcoming the water shortage of almost any water-deficient area lacking liquid water sources. It is envisioned that the proposed technology may be used to provide personal water production equipment as well as scaled to provide household-/facility-based or community-based water supply systems.This I-Corps project is based on the development of atmospheric water harvesting materials and systems that are used to collect and produce water from the air without consuming electricity. The proposed atmospheric harvesting system uses a biomass-based composite that is designed to serve as a sustainable carrier of hygroscopic salts that harvest water from the air under a wide range of humidity and temperature conditions. In addition, the proposed technology uses the heat converted from solar energy directly to facilitate water harvesting without requiring a complex operating system and absorbs water moisture when exposed to air, no matter whether the composite unit is stationary or mobile. The proposed technology provides the potential to expand water availability during shortages, contamination events, and other issues that can interrupt drinking water services.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.