Atmospheric water harvesting with carbon nanoporous sponges

Water scarcity threatens more and more people in the world. Cape Town (South Africa) imposed strict water restrictions in 2018 in response to shortages. Closer to home, water restrictions were put into place in Quebec in the summer of 2020, and First Nation communities have been confronted with fresh water issues for years. Water scarcity is a worldwide issue amplified by climate change, even in Canada. Alternate water sources, including atmospheric water harvesting, are required to secure a fresh water supply. Nanoporous sponges (NPS) are new carbon-based water harvesting material synthesized via the pyrolysis of low-cost materials, achieving comparable performance to metal organic framework (MOF) based systems, but at significantly lower cost. This material was developed at Polytechnique Montreal, in partnership with McGill University and Awn Nanotech, via a collaboration started in 2017. This research project aims to bridge the gap between lab scale prototyping and commercial uptake. We aim to: (1) Create a roadmap for NPS production at large scale; (2) Identify the key parameters impacting water capture and subsequent release through modelling and experimental validation; and (3) Fabricate and test water capture prototypes based on NPS technology and benchmark them against other adsorbents.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jason Tavares

Student:

Partner:

AWN Nanotech

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services; Transportation and warehousing

University:

Polytechnique Montréal

Program: