Enhancement of Water Productivity and Energy Efficiency in Sorption-based Atmospheric Water Harvesting Systems: From Material, Component to System LevelClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!
- Shengxi BaiShengxi BaiSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Shengxi Bai
- Xiaoxue YaoXiaoxue YaoDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Xiaoxue Yao
- Man Yi WongMan Yi WongSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Man Yi Wong
- Qili XuQili XuSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Qili Xu
- Hao LiHao LiSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Hao Li
- Kaixin LinKaixin LinSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Kaixin Lin
- Yiying ZhouYiying ZhouSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Yiying Zhou
- Tsz Chung HoTsz Chung HoSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Tsz Chung Ho
- Aiqiang PanAiqiang PanSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Aiqiang Pan
- Jianheng ChenJianheng ChenSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Jianheng Chen
- Yihao ZhuYihao ZhuSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Yihao Zhu
- Steven WangSteven WangSchool of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Steven Wang
- Chi Yan Tso*Chi Yan Tso*Email: [email protected]. Tel: (852) 3442-4623, Fax: (852) 3442-0688School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Chi Yan Tso
Abstract
To address the increasingly serious water scarcity across the world, sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) continues to attract attention among various water production methods, due to it being less dependent on climatic and geographical conditions. Water productivity and energy efficiency are the two most important evaluation indicators. Therefore, this review aims to comprehensively and systematically summarize and discuss the water productivity and energy efficiency enhancement methods for SAWH systems based on three levels, from material to component to system. First, the material level covers the characteristics, categories, and mechanisms of different sorbents. Second, the component level focuses on the sorbent bed, regeneration energy, and condenser. Third, the system level encompasses the system design, operation, and synergetic effect generation with other mechanisms. Specifically, the key and promising improvement methods are: synthesizing composite sorbents with high water uptake, fast sorption kinetics, and low regeneration energy (material level); improving thermal insulation between the sorbent bed and condenser, utilizing renewable energy or electrical heating for desorption and multistage design (component level); achieving continuous system operation with a desired number of sorbent beds or rotational structure, and integrating with Peltier cooling or passive radiative cooling technologies (system level). In addition, applications and challenges of SAWH systems are explored, followed by potential outlooks and future perspectives. Overall, it is expected that this review article can provide promising directions and guidelines for the design and operation of SAWH systems with the aim of achieving high water productivity and energy efficiency.
Cited By
Smart citations by scite.ai include citation statements extracted from the full text of the citing article. The number of the statements may be higher than the number of citations provided by ACS Publications if one paper cites another multiple times or lower if scite has not yet processed some of the citing articles.
This article is cited by 2 publications.
- Xueke Yang, Sha Li, Xiaobo Wang, Xiaoming Qian, Songnan Zhang. Bio-inspired Fog Harvesting Fabric Materials: Principle, Fabrication, Engineering Applications and Challenges. Journal of Bionic Engineering 2025, 302 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-025-00667-y
- Kaixin Lin, Yang Fu, Hao Li, Xin Li, Jianheng Chen, Siru Chen, Shengxi Bai, Aiqiang Pan, Chi Yan Tso. Exploring real-world applications of passive radiative cooling for sustainability. Cell Reports Physical Science 2025, 6
(2)
, 102445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2025.102445
Article Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.
Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.
The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated.