Freshly

Around 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world's population, live in areas of water scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation. Current solutions are still limited. For instance, desalination has environmental issues by increasing the salinity of large bodies of water. Groundwater is usually depleted faster than it is being replenished due to the large water consumption. However, there is an unlimited amount of water in the air. Traditional atmospheric water generators need high humidity and are energy-intensive. Thus, we decided to use Metal-Organic Frameworks or MOFs. MOFs are crystalline porous solids composed of a 3D network of metal ions fixed by organic ligands. In our case, MOF is constructed by linking aluminum ions and 3,5-pyrazoledicarboxylic acid. Having a high surface area, MOFs can have pores that hold water vapor tightly at low humidity. Exposing to the sun, the pores expand, releasing the water vapor which’s converted into liquid water by a condenser. This is only one cycle. Integrating this with a fan and solar panel, MOF can perform multiple cycles, providing 10 liters of fresh water daily for anyone, anywhere, and at any time.