Water Harvesting from Air: Current Passive Approaches and Outlook

Overview & Synopsis

In the context of global water scarcity, water vapor available in air is a non-negligible supplementary fresh water resource. Current and potential energetically passive procedures for improving atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) capabilities involve different strategies and dedicated materials, which are reviewed in this paper, from the perspective of morphology and wettability optimization, substrate cooling, and sorbent assistance. The advantages and limitations of different AWH strategies are respectively discussed, as well as their water harvesting performance. The various applications based on advanced AWH technologies are also demonstrated. A prospective concept of multifunctional water vapor harvesting panel based on promising cooling material, inspired by silicon-based solar energy panels, is finally proposed with a brief outlook of its advantages and challenges.