State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian Key Laboratory of Smart Chemistry, Frontier Science Center for Smart Materials, School of Chemistry, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Instrumental Analysis Center, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2024 Feb 27;58(8):3812-3822. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c09504. Epub 2024 Feb 15.
Fog harvesting is considered a promising freshwater collection strategy for overcoming water scarcity, because of its environmental friendliness and strong sustainability. Typically, fogging occurs briefly at night and in the early morning in most arid and semiarid regions. However, studies on water collection from short-term fog are scarce. Herein, we developed a patterned surface with highly hydrophilic interconnected microchannels on a superhydrophobic surface to improve droplet convergence driven by the Young-Laplace pressure difference. With a rationally designed surface structure, the optimized water collection rate from mild fog could reach up to 67.31 g m h (6.731 mg cm h) in 6 h; this value was over 130% higher than that observed on the pristine surface. The patterned surface with interconnected microchannels significantly shortened the startup time, which was counted from the fog contact to the first droplet falling from the fog-harvesting surface. The patterned surface was also facilely prepared via a controllable strategy combining laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition. The results obtained in outdoor environments indicate that the rationally designed surface has the potential for short-term fog harvesting. This work can be considered as a meaningful attempt to address the practical issues encountered in fog-harvesting research.
雾水收集被认为是一种有前途的淡水收集策略，可以克服水资源短缺问题，因为它具有环境友好性和很强的可持续性。通常，在大多数干旱和半干旱地区，雾在夜间和清晨短暂出现。然而，关于短期雾水收集的研究很少。在此，我们在超疏水表面上开发了一种具有高度亲水相互连接微通道的图案化表面，以提高由杨-拉普拉斯压力差驱动的液滴汇聚。通过合理设计的表面结构，优化后的温和雾水收集率在 6 小时内可达到 67.31 g m h（6.731 mg cm h）；这一数值比原始表面观测到的数值高出 130%以上。具有相互连接微通道的图案化表面显著缩短了启动时间，即从雾接触到第一个雾采集表面上的液滴落下的时间。该图案化表面还可以通过结合激光烧蚀和化学气相沉积的可控策略来方便地制备。在户外环境下的结果表明，这种经过合理设计的表面具有短期雾水收集的潜力。这项工作可以被视为在雾水收集研究中解决实际问题的一次有意义的尝试。
