Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research (IC&SR) , IIT Madras
Patterned Metallic Nano brushes For Capture Of Atmospheric humidity
Categories for this Invention
Category-Environmental Engineering
Industry Classification:
- NIC (2008)- 3600- Water collection, treatment and supply; 42204- Construction and maintenance of water main and line connection, water reservoirs including irrigation system, 28192- Manufacture of air-conditioning machines
- NAICS (2022)- 22131- Water Supply and Irrigation Systems; 23711- Water and Sewer Line and Related Structures Construction; 33341- Ventilation, Heating, Air-Conditioning Equipment Manufacturing
Applications- Drinking water dispensers, Water efficiency enhancing technologies, Water purifiers, Dehumidifiers
Market Drivers-
The global water purifier market size is projected to grow from $33.65 billion in 2023 to $54.48 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 7.6%.; Global dehumidifier market is valued at US$ 4.23 Billion in 2023 is expected to grow to US$ 7.94 Billion with a CAGR of 6.5% by the end of 2033
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Problem Statement
- Major Indian cities have recently faced acute water shortages disrupting lives and risking lives of vulnerable sections of the society.
- Water scarcity threatens to displace over 700 million people across the world by 2030.
- Capture of fresh water from rivers and lakes will not be sufficient to cater to the rising demand for drinking water.
- Nature exhibits fascinating ways of water capture by organisms such as Stenocara beetles living in the arid Namib desert.
- There is a need for method of water capture that condenses atmospheric humidity while mimicking similar processes found in nature.
Technology
- Silver (Ag) nano-brushes consisting 1D nano-wires using electrospray deposition of Aqueous Silver Acetate solution on stainless steel mesh or TEM grid (without carbon coating) at ambient temperature. This creates a ‘grassland ‘ morphology.
- Coating of Ag nano brushes using a FluoroThiol (forms strong sulphur-metal bond) to create super-hydrophobic surface
- Hydrophilic zone over the super-hydrophobic surface created using electro-spray deposition of Silver acetate solution using nano ElectroSpray deposition (n-ESI)
- The Ag core gives mechanical strength, the Fluorothiol coating creates hydrophobic background while Ag nano-particles embedded in the FT create hydrophilic zones.
- Water condenses on the hydrophilic zones as small droplets, as the droplets grow in size they coalesce with droplets in adjacent zones. When the droplets are big enough they roll off the surface due to the hydrophobic background.
Key Features / Value Proposition
- Surface validated in relevant environment for atmospheric water capture at dewpoint at 40% relative humidity.
- Contact angle measurements show that nature of the surface remains the same after dew collection demonstrating the robustness of the surface.
- The developed system for water capture can be deployed easily in a decentralized manner. Whereas, conventional centralized water capture systems of dams face complex socio-economic hurdles.
- Water droplets on the developed surface were condensed at a much faster rate when compared to an unmodified steel mesh.
- Optical microscope image analysis shows high water capture rates at 30L H-1M2. With efficient humidity capture at even low relative humidities.
Questions about this Technology?
Contact For Licensing
sm-marketing@imail.iitm.ac.in
ipoffice2@iitm.ac.in
Research Lab
Prof. Pradeep T
Department of Chemistry
Intellectual Property
- IITM IDF Ref. 1492
- IN 375956 – Patent Granted
PCT :
- PCT Application No: PCT/IN2017/050621
- PCT Publication No: WO/2018/122872
Technology Readiness Level
TRL – 3
Experimental proof of concept