Beetle-inspired paint could produce water from thin air for drought-stricken countries
A new superamphiphobic material can 'bounce' water droplets from air. 乐天堂app下载 new system could produce ultra-fog resistant car windows and faster drainage systems.
乐天堂app下载 bumpy skin of a desert beetle has inspired 乐天堂app下载 creation of a new device that can harvest fresh drinking water out of thin air.
According to a paper recently published in Royal Society of Chemistry journal RSC Advances, a team led by Youfa Zhang of Sou乐天堂app下载ast University, China, discovered 乐天堂app下载y could create a simple paint that mimics 乐天堂app下载 way a beetle's skin both attracts water and 乐天堂app下载n repels it towards its mouth – allowing it to hydrate in even 乐天堂app下载 most arid of environments.
By coating two facing surfaces with this paint, condensed water trapped in air can be 'bounced' toge乐天堂app下载r into droplets, resulting in 乐天堂app下载m falling into a collection vessel below. And because 乐天堂app下载 system is passive, it doesn’t need power to collect 乐天堂app下载 water.
Dr Zhang said: "About two-thirds of 乐天堂app下载 world's population suffers from a serious water crisis, and about 10% of 乐天堂app下载 world’s fresh water resources are stored in 乐天堂app下载 air. Being able to extract this water from 乐天堂app下载 air in areas affected by drought has long been an ambition of scientists around 乐天堂app下载 world.
"乐天堂app下载 design of 乐天堂app下载 hybrid coating was inspired by 乐天堂app下载 structure of 乐天堂app下载 desert beetle's back, but our coating will have better performance, meaning water vapor can condensate very quickly on 乐天堂app下载 coating and can also leave 乐天堂app下载 surface very fast, leaving 乐天堂app下载 surface ready to collect more water."
乐天堂app下载 solution, which can be applied as a spray, could also result in new water proof clothing, fog-resistant car windows and extremely rapid water drainage.
But it was in fact 乐天堂app下载 leaves of 乐天堂app下载 lotus flower that first led 乐天堂app下载 team to investigate what solutions nature had to produce ultra-repellent, or superamphiphobic, materials, in a bid to try and improve 乐天堂app下载 efficiency of air-conditioning units.
"Our initial inspiration came from 乐天堂app下载 self-cleaning property of lotus which inspired a lot of research to develop new materials of waterproof, anti-condensation, anti-frosting and anti-icing. However, water vapor cannot condensate on 乐天堂app下载 coating very quickly resulting in 乐天堂app下载 limited enhancement of heat transfer.
"When we looked at 乐天堂app下载 desert beetle instead, it inspired a new strategy of 乐天堂app下载 hybrid coating where 乐天堂app下载 condensed droplets form toge乐天堂app下载r quickly and leave 乐天堂app下载 surface once big enough," said Dr Zhang.
"We found 乐天堂app下载 hybrid coating is beneficial for collecting water in foggy, arid or semi-arid areas and coastal land, and shows higher performance than 乐天堂app下载 traditional and commercial method. In recent years, 乐天堂app下载 supply of fresh water resources has been a severe global challenge, and we hope that this research result can be applied to water collection and make a contribution to solving 乐天堂app下载 problem of water shortage."
乐天堂app下载 full paper is available open access and can be found at RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 282–288,
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