The device that produces 38 liters of clean water in an hour from thin air will be a lifesaver for the future human

With new material and manufacturing technology, this water harvesting device can produce up to 38 liters of water per hour, even in the driest areas.

A team of scientists at Akron University in Ohio is working to solve one of the most pressing problems people face in the future: access and use of clean water.

To do this, the team is developing a prototype water harvesting machine, which can basically produce 10 gallons (nearly 38 liters) of drinking water per hour from thin air.

"Everyone will use clean water," said Dr. Josh Wong, professor of mechanical engineering at Akron University. "Not only 0.1%."

The concept is mentioned by Dr. Wong - a polymer expert - here is a prototype that harvests water from the air, is cheap and effective in areas where water is scarce.

Inspirations from history and creatures

The amount of water evaporated in the air is often considered as moisture. In tropical areas often have relatively high humidity, it is easy to harvest water thanks to devices such as mist nets (fog catcher) to turn steam into drinkable water.

However, according to Wong, in arid places like California or the Andes, the harvesters of this country become less efficient. And even though countries like Israel are testing desalination in seawater, Wong said the process is too expensive to be deployed on a large scale, especially with the shortage of water becoming increasingly severe in poor areas when the world warms up as a result of climate change.

To develop a water harvesting machine, the group was inspired by both biology and history."Air is one of the most abundant water resources we have. Look at the weather forecast in your area or the storm is attacking Hawaii." Mr. Wong said. "We still have not fully exploited it."

Women carry water collected from bunkers in Somalia.

Wong pointed out that indigenous communities in the Andes Mountains, which are high desert soils with very little annual precipitation, have used techniques to capture water in the air for centuries. . Historically, these communities have collected dew condensation in holes in the desert. In the morning, they will collect dew and lead it into large containers, and turn them into clean water for them.

The Namib Desert beetle is another source of inspiration for researchers. These beetles, which live in the driest deserts on Earth, have bodies adapted to collecting water. To drink water, they just climb the highest point - for example, like a sand dune - and guide their belly towards the wind.

Wind blowing in from the ocean will carry many water droplets, and condense on their bodies. Their bodies have special grooves to condense water into their mouths.

Catch the water particles at the nanoscale

Wong and his team tried to create a "miniaturized version" for the process of harvesting water in the air using polymer fibers manufactured under the electrospinning process.

Electrospinning is a technique of spinning from polymer solution or electrostatic electrostatic polymer. This technique allows the creation of super-thin polymer fibers, with a width of only a few tens of nanometers, meaning a huge surface area can be compacted in a very small space.

Polymer fiber production process by Electrospinning.

That turns these nanoscale polymer fibers into an extremely efficient tool for collecting water, especially in arid environments. Not only that, the device runs on this Lithium-Ion battery, also has the ability to filter water, because the surface of the material will remove any bacteria or bacteria that appear in the steam.

To illustrate his example, Wong said, it is similar to wearing sun glasses in the summer sun. When you're outside in a hot and humid summer day and entering the air-conditioned room, your eyeglasses will look like a fog. That mist can also be collected at nano size.

While other researchers are also working to develop water-gathering devices, Wong said his idea would be smaller and cheaper, and therefore easier to expand than device prototypes. Other countries are still in the research phase. It can be in the form of a backpack, or even on a railroad track, to move from the water collection point and bring it to the communities.

Mr. Wong presented his findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society earlier this week, and his team is seeking funding to develop an operational prototype for the project.

"Many people will suffer from water shortages worldwide in the coming years, " Wong said. "We are hoping we can solve this problem."