Join us to hear from Krista Walton from the Georgia Institute of Technology!

Abstract: Water scarcity is a growing concern around the world. With an increasing population, rapid urbanization, and climate change, water resources are under immense pressure. According to the United Nations, nearly 2.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water, and it is estimated that by 2025, half of the world's population will be living in water-stressed areas. The consequences of water scarcity can be devastating, leading to health issues, economic losses, and conflicts over resources. Atmospheric water extraction is a system that can generate potable water, providing mobile, scalable, and self-sufficient operations. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art fog-harvesting and dew systems are limited to operations where high humidity is available. Other common water generation devices use heat exchangers/condensation techniques to produce liquid water from humid air, but these systems are large, energy intensive, and require humidity levels at 60% RH or higher. For extreme conditions where water is scarce, an adsorption-based atmospheric water extractor promises to supply drinking water regardless of the weather conditions. The goal of this work is to develop novel adsorbent materials with high water adsorption capacity across the entire humidity range. This presentation will focus on recent adsorbent development and scale-up work, with discussions on the current state-of-the-art and challenges to be overcome.