Nature inspired system to pull water from thin air

Washington: Inspired by a desert beetle, cactus and pitcher plant, researchers from Harvard University have designed a new material to collect water droplets from thin air that can one day help fill the drying reservoirs on our planet.

The team from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering drew inspiration from organisms such as cacti and desert beetles to develop a better way to promote and transport condensed water droplets.

Organisms such as cacti and desert beetles can survive in arid environments because they have evolved mechanisms to collect water from thin air. The Namib Desert beetle, for example, collects water droplets on the bumps of its shell while V-shaped cactus spines guide droplets to the plant's body.

The new system is inspired by the bumpy shell of desert beetles, the asymmetric structure of cactus spines and slippery surfaces of pitcher plants. The material harnesses the power of these natural systems, plus Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces technology (SLIPS) developed in Aizenberg's lab, to collect and direct the flow of condensed water droplets. This approach is promising not only for harvesting water but also for industrial heat exchangers.