Technology1 min read

Nobel chemist’s device pulls water from thin air!

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Omar Yaghi's atmospheric water-harvesting unit is housed in a six-meter shipping container that operates off-grid with low power requirements. Each unit can generate up to 1,000 liters of potable water daily, making it ideal for disaster relief in places like storm-damaged Grenada. Furthermore, Yaghi is also set to join Korea University as a distinguished professor alongside fellow Nobel laureate Susumu Kitagawa at the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology.

Key points

  • Atmospheric water extraction offers isolated and disaster-prone communities an off-grid a…: Atmospheric water extraction offers isolated and disaster-prone communities an off-grid alternative to relying on costly clean water imports.
  • Relying on metal-organic frameworks allows the technology to gather drinking water while…: Relying on metal-organic frameworks allows the technology to gather drinking water while avoiding the marine-harming brine output associated with desalination.
  • The company Atoco aims to strengthen water security across vulnerable regions facing seve…: The company Atoco aims to strengthen water security across vulnerable regions facing severe weather and natural disasters.

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Omar Yaghi, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has built a device that makes drinking water from air. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year. His company, Atoco, now wants to put the device in places hit by drought and storms. The Guardian reported on the equipment on October 21.

That makes MOFs good at trapping gases and moisture. Researchers have looked at them for capturing carbon from the air. Yaghi has also used them to pull water vapor out of the air, even in very dry desert conditions. The Nobel Committee said MOFs changed how atoms and molecules can be joined. In its view, people can now design materials with the traits they want.

Grenada was badly damaged by Beryl, and it hopes the device will help. Because the units run on low power, they can be set up on their own. That could cut the need to import expensive water. It could also spread water supply across many small sites instead of a few big ones.

“It is urgent to strengthen the resilience…

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