Projects / Programmes
Development of microporous aluminophosphate frameworks for solar-powered water harvesting
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 1.04.00 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Chemistry |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| P360 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Inorganic chemistry |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 1.04 |
Natural Sciences |
Chemical sciences |
microporous aluminophosphates, polyHIPE, water harvesting, water adsorption, water diffusion
Researchers (1)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
35379 |
PhD Andraž Krajnc |
Chemistry |
Head |
2018 - 2020 |
0 |
Organisations (1)
| no. |
Code |
Research organisation |
City |
Registration number |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
0104 |
National Institute of Chemistry |
Ljubljana |
5051592000 |
10 |
Abstract
Extracting potable water from moist air is a key step towards fulfilling basic human needs for everyone everywhere. There are several ways to do it, and the most common among them is a dew collection in the morning sunrise when the outdoor temperature drops below the dew temperature. But this approach works best in areas with high relative humidity (RH ) 50%), where water scarcity is usually not an issue. In arid areas, hydrophilic microporous materials could provide a decent solution. These materials have a tendency to absorb water vapor at very low relative humidity (RH ( 10%). After full saturation solar energy is used for the release of captured water (desorption). In a very recent study, researchers showed that with metal-organic framework materials, 2.8 liters of water per kilogram of dry material can be harvested daily (RH = 20%). In the research project, we will undertake a systematic study of microporous aluminophosphates for their use in water-harvesting devices. It has already been shown that this group of inorganic materials has an exceptional potential for long-term heat storage applications, which also exploit water sorption properties of the materials. There is a lot of room for improvement in terms of speeding up the hydration-dehydration processes, so the adsorption-desorption kinetics will be studied extensively. By optimizing the powder samples (crystal morphology, mesoporosity), we will try to improve the intra-crystalline water diffusion, and by the incorporation of the crystals into the polymer matrix, the inter-crystalline diffusivity will be tackled. The water sorption kinetics will be described by the empirical relations, later used in the 24-hour simulation of the operation of water harvesting device. The meteorological data for three selected locations at the hottest day of the year 2018 will be used in order to calculate daily water yields for the best-performing microporous aluminophosphates. The comparison with the metal-organic framework materials will be made by taking the weather conditions from the literature as an input to our simulation. The final goal of the project is to set some guidelines for the development of new and the improvement of already existing materials/composites suitable for water harvesting.
Significance for science
The main objective of the proposed project is to confirm the enormous potential of microporous aluminophosphates for water-harvesting applications. Its fulfillment would trigger the optimization of synthetic routes of these materials in order to make them less expensive and consequentially the development and commercialization of the technology. The revealed impact of crystal morphology and pore hierarchy on the intra-crystalline diffusivity will be beneficial to everyone involved in the development of porous materials for gas separation/storage, water purification, catalysis, sensing, etc. The scientific field will be additionally enriched by the new approach of the shaping of inorganic porous materials into macroscopic forms (AlPO4/polymer composites). The combination of the properties of both the polymer matrix and the inorganic frameworks opens completely new research possibilities and potential applicability. The scientific discoveries that are not the subject of the project research could also be obtained during the research work. This will allow us to focus on other application areas, which will be further explored in new projects in the future. The diversity of methodologies that will be used in the project and combined into one system will provide results that can have a significant impact on the further development of new inorganic porous materials and composites.
Significance for the country
The main objective of the proposed project is to confirm the enormous potential of microporous aluminophosphates for water-harvesting applications. Its fulfillment would trigger the optimization of synthetic routes of these materials in order to make them less expensive and consequentially the development and commercialization of the technology. The revealed impact of crystal morphology and pore hierarchy on the intra-crystalline diffusivity will be beneficial to everyone involved in the development of porous materials for gas separation/storage, water purification, catalysis, sensing, etc. The scientific field will be additionally enriched by the new approach of the shaping of inorganic porous materials into macroscopic forms (AlPO4/polymer composites). The combination of the properties of both the polymer matrix and the inorganic frameworks opens completely new research possibilities and potential applicability. The scientific discoveries that are not the subject of the project research could also be obtained during the research work. This will allow us to focus on other application areas, which will be further explored in new projects in the future. The diversity of methodologies that will be used in the project and combined into one system will provide results that can have a significant impact on the further development of new inorganic porous materials and composites.
Most important scientific results
Final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report
