Asymmetric double-layer design of LiCl@CC/PAM for highly efficient water uptake from atmosphere

Abstract

Water scarcity has become a global problem and caused a lot of conflicts. Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is a promising way to address water shortage issue. However, traditional adsorbent materials such as silica gels and zeolites suffer from low water productivity and high regeneration temperature. Hygroscopic salts like LiCl are regarded as a perspective substitution. Salt-modified metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and hydrogels are employed to alleviate the salt aggregation but they are limited to expensive fabrication or sluggish adsorption kinetics. Herein, we demonstrate an asymmetric double-layer design of LiCl@CC (carbon cloth)/PAM with separated function of water adsorption/desorption and water storage in different layer. This double-layer design not only enhances the mechanical properties but also shows an improved water adsorption kinetics compared to common salt-composite hydrogels. In experimental test, the LiCl@CC/PAM exhibits excellent water uptake of 1.5 g g−1 under 60 % RH in 4 h and fast water desorption under sunlight in 1.5 h. In outdoor test, LiCl@CC/PAM based device presents a daily water uptake of 5.12 g g−1 day−1. Meanwhile, all the materials used and fabrication process are feasible to scale up, which provides a possible solution to the global crisis of water scarcity.