Phospholipid Bilayer Inspired Sandwich Structural Nanofibrous Membrane for Selective Water Harvesting and Release

Abstract

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) has been broadly exploited to meet the challenge of water shortage. Despite the significant achievements of AWH, the unendurable water harvesting, inferior water release performance, and short service life hinder practical applications. Herein, inspired by the unique selective permeability of the phospholipid bilayer, a sandwich structural polyacrylonitrile nanofibrous membrane (San-PAN) was fabricated to improve the water sorption/desorption ability. The special wettability of the sandwich structure (hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic) could confine the captured water in the hydrophilic layer and prevent the leakage of the hygroscopic salt, achieving continuable and recyclable water sorption/desorption. Notably, attributed to the high thermal conductivity of Ag particles in the inner layer, the water condensation, and heat transfer ability of San-PAN were remarkably enhanced. As demonstrated, the as-prepared AWH devices presented a high-efficient adsorption kinetics (4.08 g g-1 at 25°C and 90% relative humidity). Thus, this work strengthens the understanding of the water sorption/desorption process and opens an avenue to the practical applications of wearable outdoor water supply equipment.