Solar power harvester device can even work when humidity levels are as low as 20%.
A team of researchers from MIT and University of California (UC) Berkeley have got success in creating a device that can pull water out of thin air. Dubbed solar power harvester, this device can even work in conditions when humidity levels are as low as 20%.
Solar-powered Harvester Uses Metal-organic Framework (MOF)
Solar-powered harvester uses a special type of material called metal-organic framework (MOF) to work. The device is currently in prototype stag. When researchers tested the device in conditions of 20 to 30 percent humidity and over a period of 12 hours, it pulled 2.8 liters of clean water from the air using 1 kg of MOF.
“This is a major breakthrough in the long-standing challenge of harvesting water from the air at low humidity,” says Omar Yaghi, a researcher from UC Berkeley.
“There is no other way to do that right now, except by using extra energy. Your electric dehumidifier at home ‘produces’ very expensive water.”
Working of Solar Powered Harvester
The MOF used in the solar-powered harvester is made of zirconium metal and adipic acid. Researchers compressed the dust-sized crystals of this special MOF between a condenser and a solar absorber, and the resulting structure was put inside a chamber exposed to the outside air. According to the team, the diffusion of ambient air through the MOF crystals results in water molecules attaching to interior surfaces. The team also observed that the water vapor molecules often form cubes, in groups of eight. MOF when heated with sunlight pushes the water molecules towards the condenser, where they get condensed as liquid water. These water droplets then move into the collector section from where clean drinking water can be obtained.
According to researchers, there is much room for improvement in this device and it could be scaled up to provide a family with their freshwater needs for the day.
The detailed findings of this research have been published in Science Magazine.
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