3 ms·
Getting the water out from the spongy material could pose a challenge in hot environments. According to the paper, they use heating (60°C) to extract the water
by qayxc 4y ago
Getting the water out from the spongy material could pose a challenge in hot environments.
According to the paper, they use heating (60°C) to extract the water. In hot environments, however, ambient temperatures get quite close to that already (see India at the moment).
The answer to b) would be a no. The technique doesn't work in high humidity environments.
- bell-cot 4y agoWith a somewhat different material, optimized for that situation, could this be made to work well in hot, humid environments? If so, then I'm smelling a plausible solar-powered, cheap, modular "emergency life support" system for people threatened by extreme web bulb temperature conditions.
- cookingrobot 4y agoAre you sure it’s the absolute temperature of 60d that matters, or is the requirement that the sponge is hotter than the surrounding air?
- qayxc 4y agoAccording to the paper, it's the absolute temperature that matters. The desorption is optimal at about 60°C to 70°C, meaning the absorption-desoprition cycle wouldn't work anymore if the ambient temperature is too high. The absorption phase took place at 25°C ambient - the provided data suggests that the desorption would dominate over the absorption above about 50°C. In conclusion, if the environment is 50°C or hotter, the sponge cannot absorb much water from the atmosphere, because the kinetics imply that the water would evaporate too quickly.