Scientists create ‘magic’ material that pulls drinking water from thin air

Australian scientists have developed a revolutionary nanomaterial that can extract clean drinking water from air humidity, potentially helping millions of people without access to safe water.

The “light as a feather” material can hold more than three times its weight in water and works far faster than existing commercial technologies, researchers from UNSW announced this week.

The breakthrough comes from an international collaboration led by UNSW Associate Professor Rakesh Joshi and Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov from the National University of Singapore.

The secret lies in what researchers call “magic” chemistry. The team discovered that when calcium ions are intercalated into graphene oxide – a single-atom-thick carbon lattice – something unexpected happens.

“We measured the amount of water adsorbed onto graphene oxide by itself and we measured X. We measured the amount of water adsorbed onto calcium itself and we got Y. When we measured the amount of water adsorbed onto the calcium-intercalated graphene oxide we got much more than X+Y. Or it is like 1+1 equals a number larger than 2,” said first author Xiaojun Ren.

The material works by creating extraordinarily strong hydrogen bonds between water molecules and the calcium-oxygen combination, allowing it to literally pull moisture from the air.

To make it even more effective, the team created the material as an aerogel – one of the lightest solid materials known – riddled with microscopic pores that give it massive surface area and sponge-like properties.

The system requires only enough energy to heat it to about 50 degrees to release the captured water, making it highly practical for remote areas.

Joshi said the technology could be applied in any region with sufficient humidity but limited access to clean drinking water.

With 2.2 billion people lacking safely managed drinking water according to the United Nations, and about 13 million gigalitres of water suspended in Earth’s atmosphere, the potential impact is enormous.

“This is an excellent example of how interdisciplinary, global collaboration can lead to practical solutions to one of the world’s most pressing problems – access to clean water,” Novoselov said.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involved teams from Australia, China, Japan, Singapore and India.

While still in the fundamental research stage, industry partners are collaborating to scale up the technology and develop prototypes for testing.

Picture: Xiaojun Ren (credit UNSW)