Bioinspired Asymmetric Surface Property of Functionalized Mesh to Maximize the Efficiency of Fog Harvesting

Hesham F. El-Maghraby, Afra Alhumaidi, Mohamed A. Alnaqbi, Mohsen Sherif, Yanlong Tai, Fathy Hassan, Yaser E. Greish

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Water scarcity in many countries on earth has inspired scientists to seek other resources of freshwater. Desalination, as one of the most commonly used approaches, is energy consuming and has faced a number of environmental difficulties. On the other hand, natural species, plants and insects, have developed their own modalities of securing fresh water by harvesting it from the atmospheric fog and humidity. The current study investigates the fabrication of bioinspired mesh membranes for fog harvesting. The mesh membranes are coated using a simple dip coating procedure with various extents of TiO2-PMMA hybrid structure that provides a composite structure of mixed degrees of wettability. Depending on the initial concentration of PMMA, partially and completely covered mesh membranes were prepared. The coated mesh membranes resemble Spider silk in their architecture and in their surface topography to other desert natural species. A homogeneous distribution of the TiO2 NPs within the PMMA coating was reflected on a spectrum of hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains. The fabricated mesh membranes are durable and have been shown to harvest water from fog at a rate of 32–45 L/m2 per hour, hence securing a sustainable supply of fresh water for all aspects of life.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere202200327
JournalChemNanoMat
Volume8
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

Keywords

  • Fog harvesting
  • hybrid surface functionality
  • hydrophilic-hydrophobic composite
  • surface topography
  • titanium oxide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomaterials
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Materials Chemistry

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