NTillandsia biomimetic design, sponge-gel layer: Rapid capture of water vapor from the atmosphere

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Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is a potential approach to alleviate water crisis in arid or semi-arid regions. Inspired by the water capture and storage process of air plants of the Tillandsia, this work combines the sponge skeleton with high water storage performance and the amphiphilic gel to construct the sponge-gel layer structure, which is a kind of atmospheric water collection composite material with fast and efficient vapor liquefication adsorption and excellent water storage capacity. The salting out effect of the gel in the composite material can promote the adsorption of water vapor by the carrying hygroscopic salt under the same conditions, and the sponge structure can transfer and store the water collected by the gel, so as to achieve efficient and rapid atmospheric water collection. The obtained atmospheric water collection composite achieves a fast and efficient atmospheric water collection performance of 1.41 g/g in 6–8 h under low humidity environment. Combined with the 3D printing manufacturing method, the atmospheric water collection system is constructed, which can realize the whole process of atmospheric water collection driven by solar energy. This innovative combination of sponge and gel provides a new idea for the design of efficient and fast atmospheric adsorbents.