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4w ago

UV-Light-Triggered Crystal Traps Water From Air

The result points to a low-energy path to harvest water, with safety and real-world performance still unproven.

Chemists led by the University of Iowa have created a three-dimensional structure that captures water from the air and stores it. The box-like illustration in the center shows the structure before (left side) and after undergoing a chemical reaction involving sunlight (flames in center). The resulting lattice (right side) includes cavities that capture and store water molecules. The diagrams in the upper left and lower right show the chemical arrangement before and after the light-induced reaction. (Credit: Nevindee Samararathne and Leonard MacGillivray group at University of Iowa/Universite de Sherbrooke, Canada, Tamador Alkhidir and Sharmarke Mohamed group at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
Light-triggered crystal structure changes shape under sunlight to create cavities that trap and store water molecules from the air.

Overview

  • University of Iowa chemists report a light-activated metal–organic crystal that forms tiny cavities which capture water from the air.
  • Ultraviolet light triggers a rearrangement of the crystal’s organic linkers, and X-ray diffraction then showed water molecules lodged inside the new cavities.
  • Single-crystal tests measured about 5% water by mass, with each cavity storing two water molecules under laboratory conditions.
  • The current material uses cadmium only for this proof of concept, and the team plans to replace it with safer metals and test outside controlled settings.
  • The peer-reviewed study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, notes the chain-like crystals self-assemble, which could ease scaling if performance holds.