Penn engineers develop energy-free materials that captures and releases water from air
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Could 22, 2025
A stunning discovery at Penn Engineering has unveiled a brand new class of nanostructured supplies able to passively extracting water from the air. The breakthrough, revealed in Science Advances, emerged from a lab experiment combining hydrophilic nanopores with hydrophobic polymers. Researchers noticed water droplets forming spontaneously on the check materials, prompting a deeper investigation.
Led by Daeyeon Lee and Amish Patel, professors in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, together with postdoctoral scholar Baekmin Kim and collaborator Stefan Guldin from the Technical College of Munich, the group recognized a novel amphiphilic nanoporous construction. This composition blends water-attracting and water-repelling components, enabling it to each seize airborne moisture and launch it as floor droplets-without requiring power enter or excessive humidity.
The fabric works by means of capillary condensation, drawing water vapor into nanopores even at modest humidity ranges. In contrast to standard porous supplies, the place moisture stays trapped, this movie strikes the water to its floor. “In typical nanoporous supplies, as soon as the water enters the pores, it stays there,” mentioned Patel. “However in our materials, the water strikes…then rising onto the floor as droplets.”
To validate their findings, the group dominated out floor condensation by growing the movie’s thickness. Extra water collected because the movie grew thicker, confirming inner capillary exercise. Much more curious, the droplets resisted evaporation, defying thermodynamic expectations. “They remained steady for prolonged durations,” famous Patel.
Guldin, who examined the fabric independently, confirmed the anomaly. “We have by no means seen something like this. It is completely fascinating and can clearly spark new and thrilling analysis.”
The movie’s efficiency hinges on a fragile stability between hydrophilic nanoparticles and polyethylene. “We by accident hit the candy spot,” Lee defined. The interior reservoirs fashioned by the nanopores replenish themselves, supporting a steady, ongoing cycle of moisture uptake and droplet launch.
These movies, composed of cheap supplies utilizing scalable strategies, maintain promise for sensible uses-from passive water harvesters in dry environments to cooling surfaces for electronics and responsive good coatings. “We’re nonetheless uncovering the mechanisms at play,” mentioned Patel. “However the potential is thrilling.”
The group plans to refine the hydrophilic-hydrophobic stability, improve scalability, and enhance droplet launch effectivity, with a watch towards sustainable water and cooling options utilizing solely ambient air moisture.
Analysis Report:Amphiphilic nanopores that condense undersaturated water vapor and exude water droplets
Associated Hyperlinks
College of Pennsylvania Faculty of Engineering and Utilized Science
Water Information – Science, Expertise and Politics
