Innovative Materials for Atmospheric Water Collection

Abstract

Due to depleting water resources, the use of atmospheric water for human consumption has gained increasing popularity. Traditional AWG systems are generally energy-intensive and require additional resources that hinder their deployment in remote and arid regions. Solar-regenerated desiccant systems are a good alternative, but existing desiccant materials are unsustainable. Therefore, in this thesis, activated carbon (SSS-AC) was synthesized from sunflower seed shells, which is an agricultural waste. The material was characterized using XRD, SEM, FTIR, and TGA to study its physical and morphological properties. The surface area and pore distribution were characterized using N2 adsorption/desorption studies where a wide capillary condensation step was observed for SSS-AC. Water adsorption studies were carried out at 25, 35, and 45°C, and the material was found to exhibit type-V isotherm which is common for activated carbons and indicates the likely occurrence of pore condensation. The SSS-AC reported a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.454 gwat/gads at 25°C and 90% relative humidity. The SSS-AC was incorporated into the superporous hydrogel polymer matrix to synthesize P(AA-co-DMAM)-AC. The characterization techniques were repeated for the polymer and composite along with the vapor adsorption studies. The composite showed a higher adsorption capacity of 0.908 gwat/gads, whereas for the parent polymer the capacity was 0.765 gwat/gads at 25 °C and 90% relative humidity. Isosteric heat of adsorption was calculated for all the samples. A solar still device was designed, fabricated, and tested to study the temperature variations in the buried and unburied setup.

Date of Award	Dec 2022
Original language	American English
Supervisor	MD FAZLULKARIM (Supervisor)