Water shortage is a global problem that affects more than a third of the world’s population. The water in the atmosphere is estimated to be equivalent to fourteen percent of total freshwater on earth and could be a significant resource to supplement the growing water demand. This study reports a new material, based on the confinement of high water affinity materials within super-hydrophilic porous titania nanotubes (TiNTs), that could efficiently harvest water from air under ambient conditions. This study combines a large-scale fabrication approach of the confining materials TiNTs and an optimization of the new materials for efficient harvesting water from air. The large-scale fabrication of TiNTs was achieved with microwave-assisted flow treatment. This approach reduced the rea...[ Read more ]

Water shortage is a global problem that affects more than a third of the world’s population. The water in the atmosphere is estimated to be equivalent to fourteen percent of total freshwater on earth and could be a significant resource to supplement the growing water demand. This study reports a new material, based on the confinement of high water affinity materials within super-hydrophilic porous titania nanotubes (TiNTs), that could efficiently harvest water from air under ambient conditions. This study combines a large-scale fabrication approach of the confining materials TiNTs and an optimization of the new materials for efficient harvesting water from air. The large-scale fabrication of TiNTs was achieved with microwave-assisted flow treatment. This approach reduced the reaction duration from 15 h– 48 h to 15 min compared with the traditional hydrothermal treatment. The investigation of water harvesting materials was conducted by the confinement of different materials, including ionic liquids, glucose and cyclodextrins. The optimization of the water harvesting materials was achieved with the confinement of α-cyclodextrins within TiNTs. The ~ 0.04 g of α- cyclodextrins /TiNT coating enhanced 59 % of water harvesting efficiency comparing with the direct cooling of copper pipe. It has been demonstrated to harvest moisture sustainably for 60 days without the need for regeneration. Further, it can be applied in a dehumidifier unit to enhance its water collecting efficiency, thus reducing 8.7 % of the electricity consumption.