Scientists in the US have developed a groundbreaking origami-inspired device which is capable of harvesting safe and affordable drinking water from the air and runs entirely on its own without the need for electricity.
The research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) designed the black, window-sized vertical panel to tackle the global water crisis, which reportedly affects 2.2 billion people worldwide, including 46 million in the US.
Made from a water-absorbent hydrogel and enclosed in a glass chamber coated with a cooling layer, the device is designed to improve access to water by utilizing the atmosphere as its primary source, which researchers estimate holds millions of billions of gallons in the form of vapor.
The prototype was tested for a week in North America’s driest region, California’s Death Valley, where it demonstrated the ability to efficiently capture water vapor and produce safe drinking water across a wide range of humidity levels.
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