A large-scale water-harvesting device with β-Al(OH)₃ microcone arrays by simple hydrothermal synthesis

Abstract

Here we report a novel approach to fabricate conical microstructures on aluminum substrates using a cost-effective and scalable hydrothermal synthesis method.

Large-scale efficient water harvesting using bioinspired micro-patterned copper oxide nanoneedle surfaces and guided droplet transport

“…S7, ESI †) where the surfaces maintained efficient water collection ability even aer 5 fog collection cycles. It is also noteworthy that the hydrophobic coated CuO nanoneedle surface collected more amount of water than the hydrophilic CuO nanoneedle surface, unlike in the previous study 73 where the hydrophilic conical structures collected more water than the hydrophobic conical structures. This can be because of a phenomenon called "coalescence cascade" where the droplets jump off the surface of water due to a very thin layer of air underneath the droplet.…”

“…In summary, the bioinspired surfaces based on CuO nanoneedle arrays showed good fog collection efficiency per unit area at a consistent rate and at a large scale. The results displayed in this study are at par with the bioinspired surfaces based on micro-conical arrays 10,18,19,42,50,73,78,79 as well as other structures existing in the literature. As reported in the previous studies, the arrangement of the super-hydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces together in different orientations and patterns can further enhance the overall water collection ability of the surfaces.…”

Copper Oxide Microtufts on Natural Fractals for Efficient Water Harvesting

“…Hence, the water collection on the individual fragment can be defined via pressure gradients on the conical structures. For all microconical fragments where the radius of the cones increases from tip to base, the pressure gradient due to the surface tension on the film of water is 47 , 48 …”

Bioinspired materials for water-harvesting: focusing on microstructure designs and the improvement of sustainability

“…Inspired by nature, the research on bioinspired materials came into being and became a hot topic. [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] In the past ten years, it has made great achievements. 43 According to the previous literature, by imitating the micro-nano structure, morphology, and wettability of organisms such as spider silk, cactus, and desert beetles, a variety of design and preparation methods of bioinspired water collection materials have been produced.…”