Using chemistry to extract water from the air, even in the desert

Scientists examine water molecules in effort to improve water-collecting device. While in the desert, one of humankind's most pressing needs becomes even more dire: the need for water. A team of scientists came together to address this problem using chemistry to develop a device that can extract water out of the air, even in dry climates like deserts. University of Chicago chemists created the device in collaboration with colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Southern Alabama, General Electric and Humboldt University in Berlin. Their results were published Oct. 21 in Science. The existing prototype of this water extraction device employed a kind of material called a metal-organic framework, which has empty pores for adsorbing water molecules similar to a sponge. Although the basis for this device was already developed, the exact mechanism of how it worked at the atomic level was not well understood.