A team of researchers is designing novel systems to capture water vapour in the air and turn it into liquid.
University of Waterloo professor Michael Tam and his PhD students Yi Wang and Weinan Zhao have developed sponges or membranes with a large surface area that continually capture moisture from their surrounding environment.
Traditionally, fresh water for consumption is collected from rivers, lakes, groundwater, and oceans (with treatment). The current technologies Dr. Tam is developing are inspired by nature to harvest water from alternative sources as the world is facing a serious challenge with freshwater scarcity.
“A spider’s web is an engineering marvel,” said Tam, a University Research Chair in the field of functional colloids and sustainable nanomaterials. “Water is efficiently captured by the web. The spider doesn’t need to go to the river to drink, as it traps moisture from the air.”
Similarly, Namib desert beetles have no easy access to water but acquire water from thin air by leaning into the wind to capture droplets of water from the fog with their textured body armour. This allows the moisture to accumulate and drip into their mouths.
Read more at the University of Waterloo
Image Credit: University of Waterloo