Imagine a future in which every household has an appliance that pulls water out of the air, even in dry or desert climates, using only the power of the sun.
That could be the result of a prototype developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, Berkeley, that sucks water out of the air and stores it using nothing but sunlight and MOFs.
MOFs are metal-organic frameworks that are made from metal ions and organic compounds that form a sponge-like configuration.
What are MOFs?
- Metal-organic frameworks are crystalline compounds composed of metal ions
- MOFs have a high porosity and are thermally and mechanically stable.
- The high specific surface area exhibits selective adsorption
- MOFs are formed by reticular synthesis and there are several hundred different types
- Careful selection of MOF constituents can yield crystals of ultrahigh porosity and high thermal and chemical stability
- The interior of MOFs can be chemically altered to separate and store gas
Source: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Researchers tuned the chemical composition of a MOF to be hydrophilic, which in a powder form can not only suck up liquid water but also absorb water vapour. Their findings are reported in the journal Science.
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