Advancements in atmospheric water harvesting: toward continuous operation through mass transfer optimization

Abstract

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) offers a promising solution to global water scarcity. However, practical implementation is limited by discontinuities in the mass transfer process inside sorbents. This perspective reviews current SAWH technologies and introduces a new concept, mass transfer of SAWH (MT-SAWH), which ensures continuous water collection by facilitating the movement of water molecules within a fixed sorbent bed. We discuss design principles and the potential for using renewable energy to maintain a stable water supply. Our goal is to highlight the future potential of SAWH and encourage the development of efficient water harvesting systems. Wenhai Chu and co-authors discuss continuous and discontinuous approaches for atmospheric water harvesting. They identify the steps for expanding the operability range and efficiency of the existing techniques and propose mass transfer mechanics using sorbent materials.