Structure‐Property Relationships of Hydrogel‐based Atmospheric Water Harvesting Systems
An Feng, Yihan Shi, Casey Onggowarsito, Xin Zhang, Shudi Mao, Md Abu Hasan Johir, Qiang Fu, Long D. Nghiem
Abstract
Abstract Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is considered one of the promising technologies to alleviate the uneven‐distribution of water resources and water scarcity in arid regions of the world. Hydrogel‐based AWH materials are currently attracting increasing attention due to their low cost, high energy efficiency and simple preparation. However, there is a knowledge gap in the screening of hydrogel‐based AWH materials in terms of structure‐property relationships, which may increase the cost of trial and error in research and fabrication. In this study, we synthesised a variety of hydrogel‐based AWH materials, characterized their physochemcial properties visualized the electrostatic potential of polymer chains, and ultimately established the structure‐property‐application relationships of polymeric AWH materials. Poly(2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS) hydrogel is able to achieve an excellent water adsorption capacity of 0.62 g g −1 and a high water desorption efficiency of more than 90 % in relatively low‐moderate humidity environments, which is regarded as one of the polymer materials with potential for future AWH applications.