I-Corps: Sustainable Atmospheric Water Harvesting

I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是发展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，水资源短缺问题日益严重。据世界卫生组织称，估计有7.85亿人无法获得清洁水，人们认识到缺水是一个日益严重的全球危机。全球对提供安全饮用水的解决方案越来越感兴趣，同时又不增加对瓶装水的依赖所造成的环境后果。所提出的大气集水技术可以为几乎所有缺乏液态水来源的缺水地区的水资源短缺问题提供解决方案。设想拟议的技术可用于提供个人用水设备，也可用于提供以家庭/设施或社区为基础的供水系统。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发大气集水材料和系统，用于在不消耗电力的情况下从空气中收集和产生水。拟议的大气收集系统使用基于生物质的复合材料，作为吸湿盐的可持续载体，在广泛的湿度和温度条件下从空气中收集水。此外，所提出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，当暴露在空气中时吸收水分，无论复合单元是固定的还是移动的。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水供应的潜力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.