Advances in harvesting water and energy from ubiquitous atmospheric moisture

Abstract

Atmospheric moisture contains huge amounts of water and energy potential, which, benefiting from the advances of nanomaterials, hold great promise in delivering circular economies for the prevalent interwoven water and energy crises. Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) and moisture-enabled energy generation (MEEG), emerging technologies capable of extracting water and energy from moisture are rapidly developing and advancing toward distributed and decentralized systems. In this review, sorbent-assisted AWH and moisture-enabled energy generation are reviewed in parallel, revealing the correlation between these two technologies. Sorbent-assisted AWH and MEEG are found to be inextricably linked in view of the similarities between both technologies with respect to the moisture/material interactions and basic material prerequisites. Mechanisms, innovative material and structural designs, as well as recent progress in developing devices, are critically discussed. Besides, AWH infrastructures integrated with renewable solar energy for water harvesting and other forms of energy conversion are covered, featuring sought-after energy efficiency and multifunctionality. Furthermore, future directions for water and energy harvesting from moisture are outlined, encompassing scientific research and practical applications.