Due to the limited water supply and increased population growth faced by this planet, there is a need for alternate strategies for drinking water production. Water vapor in the atmosphere can potentially be collected for drinking water supply without producing a large quantity of waste residual. The goal of this study is to perform theoretical model-based design of novel nano-enabled materials for low-energy atmospheric water capture (AWC)<i>. </i>An AWC system consists of 3 steps: 1) Desiccants adsorb water vapor in the surrounding air; 2) heat drives desorption of vapor from the desiccant onto a cool surface, where 3) clean water is condensed and collected. Among these steps, the heat requirement for water vapor desorption (&gt;175C for silica gel) is a significant barrier to achieving energy efficient AWC. To reduce this energy barrier, light-active gold nanoparticles were attached to desiccant surfaces to produce surface plasmon resonance induced photothermal heating. Theoretical calculations were performed to quantify the mass loading of nanoparticles, light intensity, and time required to heat the surface of the desiccant to desorb water vapor. These calculations are guiding synthesis of novel nanotechnology-enabled photothermal desiccants to improve water vapor desorption kinetics and overcome thermodynamic barriers.

Design of novel nano-enabled photothermal desiccants to improve energy efficiency of atmospheric water capture

254th National Meeting (2017)

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