Time-efficient atmospheric water harvesting using Fluorophenyl oligomer incorporated MOFs

Abstract

Adsorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) has the potential to address water scarcity in arid regions. However, developing adsorbents that effectively capture water at a low relative humidity (RH < 30%) and release it with minimal energy consumption remains a challenge. Herein, we report a fluorophenyl oligomer (FO)-incorporated metal-organic framework (MOF), HKUST-1 (FO@HK), which exhibits fast adsorption kinetics at low RH levels and facile desorption by sunlight. The incorporated fluorophenyl undergoes vapor-phase polymerization at the metal center to generate fluorophenyl oligomers that enhance the hydrolytic stability of FO@HK while preserving its characteristic water sorption behavior. The FO@HK exhibited vapor sorption rates of 8.04 and 11.76 L kg-1MOF h-1 at 20 and 30% RH, respectively, which are better than the state-of-the-art AWH sorbents. Outdoor tests using a solar-driven large-scale AWH device demonstrate that the sorbent can harvest 264.8 mL of water at a rate of 2.62 L kg-1MOF per day. This study provides a ubiquitous strategy for transforming water-sensitive MOFs into AWH sorbents. © 2024. The Author(s).