Researchers are developing textiles that can produce drinking water from the air
Key takeaways
- Jeffrey Morgan/Getty Images There are existing methods to collect water from the ambient air, but most of them are large or cumbersome.
- "We wanted to rethink the form of the technology," said UT Austin's Guihua Yu, one of the authors on the latest study.
- The jacket used a special fabric designed to collect moisture from the air and gather it in detachable harvesting units rather than simply having the textile absorb the water.
Jeffrey Morgan/Getty Images There are existing methods to collect water from the ambient air, but most of them are large or cumbersome. Recent research by the University of Texas at Austin is taking that concept and transforming it something you could have on hand at all times. Or more literally, on your back at all times. In a study published in Scientific Advances, the team used a special textile to create a jacket capable of atmospheric water harvesting.
"We wanted to rethink the form of the technology," said UT Austin's Guihua Yu, one of the authors on the latest study. "If the fabric itself can collect water from air, it opens a new direction for personal and portable water access."
The jacket used a special fabric designed to collect moisture from the air and gather it in detachable harvesting units rather than simply having the textile absorb the water. "That transport design is what allows the material to work not just in a small lab test, but in a wearable system," added co-author Keith Johnston, also of UT Austin. The harvesters are then placed in a foldable collector piece and heated to produce drinkable water.