Carbon Nanotubes Harvest Water from the Air

Jun-19-14 Inspired by the abilities of the Stenocara beetle, researchers have demonstrated a way that carbon nanotubes could be used to harvest water from dry, desert air and store it for later user.

The team from Rice University grew the "hygroscopic scaffold" using a process created at the university, resulting in a modified carbon nanotube forest made up of an array of nanotubes with a superhydrophobic bottom and a hydrophilic top. As the nanotubes attract the water molecules in the air, the hydrophobic sides trap the molecules inside. No external energy is required, and the water can be "squeezed" from the forest and the material used again.

Image: Rice University graduate student Sehmus Ozden holds a carbon nanotube forest.

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