设备仅利用重力从空气中提取水

由 KAUST 教授 Qiaoqiang Gan 领导的一个国际研究小组设计了一种装置，可以在没有电力的情况下运行，仅依靠重力从空气中提取水。

Water is perhaps Earth's most valuable resource. Despite covering 70% of our planet, freshwater, the water we use to drink, bathe, or irrigate our farmlands, is scarce. Only 3% of the world's water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that 3% dwells in frozen glaciers or is otherwise unavailable for use.

水也许是地球上最宝贵的资源。尽管淡水覆盖了地球 70% 的面积，但我们用来饮用、洗澡或灌溉农田的水却很稀缺。世界上只有 3% 的水是淡水，而这 3% 的水有三分之二居住在冰冻的冰川中或无法使用。

The result of water scarcity is a problem that is reflected all over the world. Close to 1.1 billion people lack access to water on a global scale. A total of 2.7 billion people in the world suffer from the scarcity of water for at least one month of the year.

水资源短缺的结果是全世界都反映的问题。全球范围内有近 11 亿人无法获得水。全球共有27亿人一年中至少有一个月遭受缺水之苦。

Water shortage also leads to many other problems, such as inadequate sanitation, a problem for 2.4 billion people who get vulnerable and exposed to diseases like cholera and typhoid, and many other fatal diarrheal diseases.

水资源短缺还导致许多其他问题，例如卫生设施不足，这是 24 亿人面临的问题，他们很容易受到霍乱和伤寒等疾病的影响，以及许多其他致命的腹泻病。

The growing population and the ever-expanding demand for water have always been at loggerheads. The more populated our planet has become, the more stressed its water systems have become.

不断增长的人口和不断扩大的水需求一直是矛盾的。我们的星球人口越多，水系统的压力就越大。

Rising pollution levels have taken a toll on the planet's rivers, lakes, and aquifers. What appears even more distressing is that over half of the world's wetlands have disappeared.

不断上升的污染水平对地球上的河流、湖泊和含水层造成了损害。更令人痛苦的是，世界上一半以上的湿地已经消失。

If the scientific community fails to evolve with time and offer solutions to combat the menace of disappearing water, our agriculture systems won't have enough water soon, leading to food insecurity and much more.

如果科学界不能随着时间的推移而发展并提供解决方案来应对水资源消失的威胁，我们的农业系统很快就会没有足够的水，从而导致粮食不安全等问题。

Fortunately, the scientific community is up to the challenge worldwide. Today, we shall discuss one such breakthrough solution in the coming segment and then delve deeper.

幸运的是，科学界正在迎接全世界的挑战。今天，我们将在接下来的部分讨论一个这样的突破性解决方案，然后进行更深入的研究。

Device Extracts Water from the Air Using Nothing More than Gravity

设备仅利用重力从空气中提取水

A team of international researchers, led by KAUST Professor Qiaoqiang Gan, has designed a device that can potentially run with no electricity and extract water from the air with the help of nothing but gravity. The device, already free from the need for a costly energy supply, can be made with cheap and readily available materials.

由 KAUST 教授 Qiaoqiang Gan 领导的一个国际研究小组设计了一种装置，可以在没有电力的情况下运行，仅依靠重力从空气中提取水。该设备已经不需要昂贵的能源供应，可以用廉价且容易获得的材料制成。

The experiment paper, titled ‘Lubricated Surface in a Vertical Double-Sided Architecture for Radiative Cooling and Atmospheric Water Harvesting', seeks to make atmospheric water harvesting more efficient.

该实验论文题为“用于辐射冷却和大气水收集的垂直双面架构中的润滑表面”，旨在提高大气水收集的效率。

The water harvesting process improves significantly in radiative cooling. Radiative cooling works by significantly lowering condenser temperatures below ambient levels and making atmospheric water harvesting possible without additional energy.

集水过程在辐射冷却方面得到显着改善。辐射冷却的工作原理是将冷凝器温度显着降低到环境水平以下，并且无需额外能源即可收集大气水。

One issue that radiative cooling systems face is the challenge of traditional sky-facing condensers having low cooling power density, and water droplets remaining pinned on the surface, requiring active condensate collection.

辐射冷却系统面临的问题之一是传统面向天空的冷凝器的冷却功率密度低，并且水滴仍然固定在表面上，需要主动收集冷凝水。

The research has proposed a solution to this problem: a lubricated surface (LS) coating—consisting of highly scalable polydimethylsiloxane elastomer lubricated with silicone oil applied on the condenser side in a vertical double-sided architecture.

该研究提出了解决这个问题的方法：润滑表面（LS）涂层——由高度可扩展的聚二甲基硅氧烷弹性体组成，用硅油润滑，涂在垂直双面结构的冷凝器侧。

The benefits of the design are several. For one, it effectively doubles the local cooling power.

该设计的好处有很多。其一，它有效地使局部冷却能力加倍。

Secondly, it eliminates contact-line pinning, enabling passive, gravity-driven collection of water. The result is pumped up AWH capacity from a 0 × 30 cm2 sample in outdoor environments, which was under no artificial flow of humidified air.

其次，它消除了接触线钉扎，从而实现被动、重力驱动的集水。结果是在室外环境中从 0 × 30 cm2 样品中抽出 AWH 容量，该样品没有人工加湿空气流。

The passive water collection rate of the lubricated surface (LS) coating reached 21 g m−2 h−1, double that on a superhydrophobic surface, 10 g m−2 h−1. The performance was even better in an indoor setting, where the system could achieve a condensation rate of up to 87% of the theoretical limit with up to 90% of the total condensate passively collected.

润滑表面 (LS) 涂层的被动水收集率达到 21 gm−2 h−1，是超疏水表面 10 gm−2 h−1 的两倍。在室内环境中，性能甚至更好，系统可以实现高达理论极限 87% 的冷凝率，并且被动收集的冷凝水总量高达 90%。

Benefits of Atmospheric Water Harvesting Done Correctly

正确进行大气水收集的好处

The atmosphere has six times more water than all the earth's rivers' freshwater combined. According to Professor Gan:

大气中的水量是地球上所有河流淡水总和的六倍。据甘教授介绍：

“This water can be collected by atmospheric water harvesting technologies.”

“这些水可以通过大气集水技术来收集。”

And when the process is done efficiently with the solution mentioned above, it becomes all the more profitable for its adopters. While elaborating on the benefits of the system, Professor Dan Daniel, one of the post-doctorates in Professor Gan's research group, had the following to say,

当使用上述解决方案有效地完成该过程时，它的采用者会变得更加有利可图。在详细阐述该系统的好处时，甘教授研究小组的博士后之一丹·丹尼尔教授说道：

“The system doesn't consume any electricity, leading to energy savings. Moreover, it doesn't rely on any mechanical parts like compressors or fans, reducing the maintenance over traditional systems, leading to further savings.”

“该系统不消耗任何电力，从而节省能源。此外，它不依赖压缩机或风扇等任何机械部件，减少了传统系统的维护，从而进一步节省成本。”

To Dan Daniel's observations, another post-doctorate of the team, Shakeel Ahmad, added:

根据 Dan Daniel 的观察，该团队的另一位博士后 ​​Shakeel Ahmad 补充道：

“Our coating effectively eliminated pinning, enabling true passive water collection driven by water.”

“我们的涂层有效地消除了钉扎，实现了真正由水驱动的被动集水。”

Altogether, the system enhances the quality of atmospheric water harvesting by a significant margin, making AWH a true blue solution in this world of increasingly scarce water resources.

总而言之，该系统显着提高了大气集水的质量，使 AWH 成为这个水资源日益稀缺的世界中真正的蓝色解决方案。

Click here to learn how solar energy could do more than just provide clean energy.

单击此处了解太阳能除了提供清洁能源之外还有什么其他用途。

Advances in Atmospheric Water Harvesting Systems

大气集水系统的进展

In October 2023, an article published in the scientific journal named Energy conducted a comprehensive review of techniques, performance, renewable energy solutions, and feasibility relating to the method of AWH. The review highlighted Atmospheric Water Harvesting as something that could be

2023年10月，《能源》杂志上发表的一篇文章对AWH方法的技术、性能、可再生能源解决方案和可行性进行了全面综述。该评论强调大气水收集是可以