Atmospheric Water Harvesting with Polymeric Hydrogels

Feng, An

Atmospheric Water Harvesting with Polymeric Hydrogels

Feng, An

Permalink

Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2025

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download thesisAdobe PDF (8.13 MB)

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Feng, An
dc.date.accessioned	2025-07-07T01:02:49Z
dc.date.available	2025-07-07T01:02:49Z
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/188098
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	Water scarcity remains a pressing global challenge despite the abundance of Earth's water resources, necessitating innovative and sustainable water extraction technologies. Conventional methods, such as desalination and river diversion, are economically and environmentally unsustainable, prompting interest in atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) using chemical adsorption materials. This thesis explores hydrogel-based AWH materials, focusing on their structural properties, adsorption and desorption thermodynamics, and biomimetic design. The research examines the influence of polymer network characteristics, including crosslink density and functional groups, on adsorption kinetics, while also analyzing macroscopic factors such as pore size, density, and wall thickness. The desorption process in hydrogels is found to be thermodynamically distinct, requiring higher energy due to the strong hydrogen bonding network. Experimental findings demonstrate that double-layered composite hydrogels exhibit a 58.71% increase in water adsorption capacity compared to single-layered counterparts, underscoring the efficacy of independent functional components. Furthermore, the addition of salt components with unique approaches and customized morphology, along with their successful integration into an AWH device, confirms the material’s potential for practical implementation. These findings contribute to the advancement of cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable AWH technologies, addressing the critical issue of freshwater scarcity and supporting global water security initiatives.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/188098/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2025 An Feng
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/cph
dc.title	Atmospheric Water Harvesting with Polymeric Hydrogels	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

Water scarcity remains a pressing global challenge despite the abundance of Earth's water resources, necessitating innovative and sustainable water extraction technologies. Conventional methods, such as desalination and river diversion, are economically and environmentally unsustainable, prompting interest in atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) using chemical adsorption materials. This thesis explores hydrogel-based AWH materials, focusing on their structural properties, adsorption and desorption thermodynamics, and biomimetic design. The research examines the influence of polymer network characteristics, including crosslink density and functional groups, on adsorption kinetics, while also analyzing macroscopic factors such as pore size, density, and wall thickness. The desorption process in hydrogels is found to be thermodynamically distinct, requiring higher energy due to the strong hydrogen bonding network. Experimental findings demonstrate that double-layered composite hydrogels exhibit a 58.71% increase in water adsorption capacity compared to single-layered counterparts, underscoring the efficacy of independent functional components. Furthermore, the addition of salt components with unique approaches and customized morphology, along with their successful integration into an AWH device, confirms the material’s potential for practical implementation. These findings contribute to the advancement of cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable AWH technologies, addressing the critical issue of freshwater scarcity and supporting global water security initiatives.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/188098