German scientists made a sponge-like material that pulls drinking water from air

Representative Image of water harvesting technology collecting and storing water (AI-generated image) Researchers at Kiel University in Germany have developed a highly porous material that can pull drinking water directly out of dry air, offering a possible lifeline for regions where rainfall is becoming less reliable. The material, known as CAU-10-H, behaves like a sponge, absorbing water vapour from the atmosphere and releasing it again as liquid water. Under dry conditions, one kilogram of the composite can produce up to 1.8 litres of clean drinking water every day. Scientists say the technology is especially suited to hot, dry regions around the Mediterranean, where rising temperatures and falling rainfall are already straining freshwater supplies, and the same material could also make cooling systems significantly more energy efficient.How the sponge-like material pulls water from dry airCAU-10-H belongs to a class of compounds called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are built from an extremely porous internal structure filled with countless microscopic, interconnected cavities. According to an official statement from Kiel University, the material captures water molecu...