Janus crystals, developed by international researchers, efficiently harvest atmospheric water without energy, inspired by desert organisms, offering a promising solution to global water scarcity.
A team of scientists from Jilin University, NYU Abu Dhabi’s Smart Materials Lab, and the Center for Smart Engineering Materials have developed a new crystalline material that can harvest water from fog without any energy input.
These novel smart crystals, named Janus crystals, are inspired by desert plants and animals, which can survive in arid conditions. For instance, desert beetles and lizards have evolved to develop surface structures that have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic areas and effectively capture moisture from the air. Water is attracted to the hydrophilic areas and droplets are accumulated and transported through the hydrophobic areas.
The team, led by Professor of Chemistry Pance Naumov, presented their findings in a new paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Development and Properties of Janus Crystals
The researchers chose three chemically versatile organic compounds from which they grew elastic organic crystals. They then tested how each of these materials interacted with the airborne water, which led to the creation of the new water-collecting materials, Janus crystals, that contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions on the surface level, one to capture water and one to transfer it to a receptacle for collection.
The Janus crystals capture humidity from humid air with the highest-to-date water collection efficiency. The crystals’ narrow and light-translucent structures enable researchers to monitor the collection and condensation of fog droplets in real-time by using light.
Energy-Efficient Water Collection Method
Desalination is a widely used method to produce potable water, however an energy-intensive process is required to separate the dissolved salt in saltwater. In contrast, the process of condensation of aerial humidity or fog utilized by the Janus crystals is spontaneous under ambient conditions and can be performed without the input of energy, potentially providing an endless source of clean water.
Unlike previously reported porous organic crystals, the Janus crystals combine water-collection and water-delivery functions at their surface, creating a highly efficient water-harvesting process that maximizes the amount of collected water at ambient conditions.
Impact and Future Applications
“The earth’s atmosphere contains an abundance of untapped fresh water, but we desperately need materials that can efficiently capture and collect this humidity and condense it into potable water,” said Naumov. “The crystals developed by our team not only capitalize on the mechanical compliance and optical transparency of organic crystals, but also pave the way for the design of active, self-sensing, and efficient surface-active harvesters which, when used at a larger scale, can help us combat water scarcity at a societal level.”
Reference: “Efficient Aerial Water Harvesting with Self-Sensing Dynamic Janus Crystals” by Linfeng Lan, Liang Li, Chenguang Wang, Panče Naumov and Hongyu Zhang, 22 October 2024, Journal of the American Chemical Society.
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c11689
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1 Comment
And how much energy will it take to produce those crystals at the necessary scale?