Fog Collection on Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Fibers: Influence of Cross Section and Surface Structure

Azad, M. A. K.; Krause, Eike; Danter, Leon; Baars, Albert; Koch, Kerstin; Barthlott, Wilhelm

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00478

Cited by 41 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The efficiency of fog harvesting depends heavily upon both the geometry and surface wettability of the mesh structures. [ 18–28 ] In Chile, 5 000 m 2 of mesh harvesters yielded a multi‐year average of 15000 L of water per day, enough to supply an entire village with clean water. [ 29 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harps Enable Water Harvesting under Light Fog Conditions

Shi

Sloot

Hart

et al. 2020

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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Fog harvesting is useful for passively collecting fresh water in arid regions, but the efficiency of current mesh‐based harvesters is compromised by their poor drainage. Inspired by the linear needles of redwood trees, “fog harps” are developed whose array of vertical wires enables an unobstructed drainage pathway. A full‐scale (1 m2 frame) fog harp is fabricated by winding a stainless steel wire around a spinning aluminum frame featuring threaded rods. The fog harp is field tested for a full year at a local farm (Blacksburg, VA, USA), alongside the control case of a mesh harvester. Under moderate fog conditions, the fog harp collects anywhere from 2 to 78 times more water compared to the mesh harvesters. Under light fog conditions, the fog harp collects up to several hundred milliliters of water per day while the mesh is unable to collect any water at all. The water harvesting performance of fog harps is therefore unprecedented in two ways: they substantively elevate the performance ceiling when exposed to healthy fog while also enabling, for the first time, appreciable water harvesting under light fog.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harps Enable Water Harvesting under Light Fog Conditions

Shi

Sloot

Hart

et al. 2020

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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“…There are research studies in which different types of strips 14 , wires 15 , harps 16 or mechanisms to mimic nature have been applied 17,18 . Additionally the microstructure effect on the coalescence of water droplets responsible for improving water harvesting from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films have also been investigated 19 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiber-Based Composite Meshes with Controlled Mechanical and Wetting Properties for Water Harvesting

Knapczyk‐Korczak

Urà

Gajek

et al. 2019

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Water is the basis of life in the world. Unfortunately, resources are shrinking at an alarming rate. The lack of access to water is still the biggest problem in the modern world. The key to solving it is to find new unconventional ways to obtain water from alternative sources. Fog collectors are becoming an increasingly important way of water harvesting as there are places in the world where fog is the only source of water. Our aim is to apply electrospun fiber technology, due to its high surface area, to increase fog collection efficiency. Therefore, composites consisting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic fibers were successfully fabricated using a two-nozzle electrospinning set up. This design enables the realization of optimal meshes for harvesting water from fog. In our studies we focused on combining hydrophobic, polystyrene (PS) and hydrophilic, polyamide 6 (PA6) surface properties in the produced meshes, without any chemical modifications, based on new hierarchical composites for collecting water. This combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic material cause water to condense on the hydrophobic microfibers and to run down on the hydrophilic nanofibers. By adjusting the fraction of PA6 nanofibers we were able to tune the mechanical properties of PS meshes and importantly increase the efficiency in collecting water. We combined a few characterization methods together with novel image processing protocols for the analysis of fiber fractions in the constructed meshes. The obtained results show a new single-step method to produce meshes with enhanced mechanical properties and water collecting abilities that can be applied in existing Fog Water Collectors. This is a new promising design for fog collectors with nano-and macro-fibers which are able to efficiently harvest water, showing a great application in comparison to commercially available standard meshes.

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“…6A-D) (Dorrer and Rühe, 2008a;White et al, 2013) or fibres for textile applications (Fig. 6E-K) (Sarsour et al, 2010;Dong et al, 2012;Cao et al, 2015;Azad et al, 2017). Biomimetic approaches are less often found for thermally facilitated condensation.…”

Section: Biomimetic Approaches and Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Passive water collection with the integument: mechanisms and their biomimetic potential

Comanns

2018

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Several mechanisms of water acquisition have evolved in animals living in arid habitats to cope with limited water supply. They enable access to water sources such as rain, dew, thermally facilitated condensation on the skin, fog, or moisture from a damp substrate. This Review describes how a significant number of animals - in excess of 39 species from 24 genera - have acquired the ability to passively collect water with their integument. This ability results from chemical and structural properties of the integument, which, in each species, facilitate one or more of six basic mechanisms: increased surface wettability, increased spreading area, transport of water over relatively large distances, accumulation and storage of collected water, condensation, and utilization of gravity. Details are described for each basic mechanism. The potential for bio-inspired improvement of technical applications has been demonstrated in many cases, in particular for several wetting phenomena, fog collection and passive, directional transport of liquids. Also considered here are potential applications in the fields of water supply, lubrication, heat exchangers, microfluidics and hygiene products. These present opportunities for innovations, not only in product functionality, but also for fabrication processes, where resources and environmental impact can be reduced.

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Fog Collection on Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Fibers: Influence of Cross Section and Surface Structure

Cited by 41 publications

References 59 publications

Harps Enable Water Harvesting under Light Fog Conditions

Harps Enable Water Harvesting under Light Fog Conditions

Fiber-Based Composite Meshes with Controlled Mechanical and Wetting Properties for Water Harvesting

Passive water collection with the integument: mechanisms and their biomimetic potential

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