Atmospheric water harvesting system
View Patent ↗Disclosed herein are water harvesting networks. The harvesters allow extraction and collection of moisture from the atmosphere without requiring electrical energy inputs.
1. A water harvesting material comprising an interpenetrating network comprising:
a) a hygroscopic polymer; and
b) a thermoresponsive water storage polymer,
wherein the hygroscopic polymer comprises a conductive polymer, wherein the conductive polymer is a polypyrrole.
2. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the polypyrrole is doped polypyrrole.
3. The water harvesting material of claim 2 , wherein the doping level is at least 0.300 holes per monomer.
4. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the hygroscopic polymer has a Mw less than about 300,000.
5. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoresponsive water storage polymer is characterized by a Lower Critical Solution Temperature between about 30-70° C.
6. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoresponsive water storage polymer comprises a poly(N-alkylacrylamide), poly(N,N dialkylacrylamide), poly(acrylic acid), poly(vinyl ether), poly(vinylcaprolactam), or a mixture thereof.
7. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoresponsive water storage polymer comprises a poly(N-alkylacrylamide), a poly(N,N-dialkylacrylamide), or a mixture thereof.
8. The water harvesting material of claim 7 , wherein the thermoresponsive water storage polymer further comprises a poly(acrylic acid).
9. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoresponsive water storage polymer is further derived from at least one crosslinking monomer.
10. The water harvesting material of claim 9 , wherein the crosslinking monomer comprises (C 1 -C 10 alkylene) bisacrylamides, mono-(C 3 -C 10 alkenyl)acrylamides, di-(C 3 -C 10 alkenyl)acrylamides, or a mixture thereof.
11. The water harvesting material of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of hygroscopic polymer to thermoresponsive water storage polymer is from about 1:0.05-1:1.
12. A method of harvesting atmospheric water comprising:
a) exposing the water harvesting material of claim 1 to atmospheric moisture for a time sufficient to absorb atmospheric moisture;
b) heating the network to a temperature sufficient to desorb the water from the network; and
c) collecting the desorbed water.
13. A method of preparing a water harvesting network comprising forming an interpenetrating network comprising a hygroscopic polymer; and a thermoresponsive water storage polymer, comprising the step:
a) forming the hygroscopic polymer in the presence of the thermoresponsive water storage polymer; or
b) forming the thermoresponsive water storage polymer in the presence of the hygroscopic polymer,
wherein the hygroscopic polymer comprises a conductive polymer, where the conductive polymer is a polypyrrole.
14. The method of claim 13 , comprising forming the hygroscopic polymer in the presence of a poly(N-alkylacrylamide), poly(N,N dialkylacrylamide), poly(acrylic acid), poly(vinyl ether), poly(vinylcaprolactam), or a mixture thereof.
15. The method of claim 13 , comprising polymerizing a monomer mixture comprising pyrrole in the presence of the thermoresponsive polymer.
16. The method of claim 13 , comprising forming the thermoresponsive polymer in the presence of a polypyrrole.
17. The method of claim 16 , comprising polymerizing a monomer mixture comprising methylacrylamide, ethylacrylamide, n-propylacrylamide, iso-propylacrylamide, n-butylacrylamide, iso-butylacrylamide, sec-butylacrylamide, tert-butylacrylamide, dimethylacrylamide, diethylacrylamide, di-n-propylacrylamide, di-iso-propylacrylamide, N-methyl-N-ethylacrylamide, N-methyl-N-n-propylacrylamide, N-ethyl-N-n-propylacrylamide, N-methyl-N-iso-propylacrylamide, N-ethyl-N-iso-propylacrylamide, or a mixture thereof in the presence of polypyrrole.
18. A water harvesting material prepared by the process of claim 13 .