SPACE

Finding Aliens on Dying Planets

This chart shows star temperatures vs. stellar flux showing various zones including Earth. Credit: Chester Harmon Scientists should ta...

27 Nov 2013 | 1 comments | Read more

New Moon Probe Raises Questions About What to Do Next in Space

Terry Zaperach/NASA, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Engineers at a NASA site in Virginia preparing an unmanned craft for its...

01 Sep 2013 | 0 comments | Read more
HEALTH

Woman gets pregnant seven years after ovaries removed

Scientists from Melbourne IVF and the Royal Women's hospital helped a woman who had both her ovaries removed get pregnant. Australian ...

05 Sep 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

$1 Syphilis Test To Make Diagnosis Readily Available Throughout Latin America

Syphilis has become a serious health issue (again) in Latin American countries, with 3 million cases. Every year 330,000 pregnant women w...

03 Sep 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Global Analysis Shows Cardiac Stents Beneficial in Women

Cardiac stents to open blocked heart arteries and reduce chest pain have been used for decades. However, cardiologists have never been ce...

03 Sep 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Menthol Cigrettes are getting more Popular among Young People

A new study on mentholated cigarette use in the U.S. finds an increase in menthol cigarette smoking among young adults and concludes th...

30 Aug 2013 | 0 comments| Read more
TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft buys Nokia smartphones, services in $7.2B deal

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaks during a press conference on the company's deal with Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia in Espoo, ...

03 Sep 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Facebook aims for piece of big TV ad budgets

Even before Facebook begins displaying splashy video ads, it's preparing for a backlash from users like Amy Pittel. The 44-year...

03 Sep 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Apple reportedly releasing new iPads after iPhone

Apple will launch its new iPad and iPad mini ahead of the "holiday shopping season," according to a new report. Citing unnamed sources...

13 Aug 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Glasses Free 3D: More freedom of movement while viewing glasses-free 3-D

A new image processing technique automatically calculates where the viewer is located in front of the television. The user can move a...

13 Aug 2013 | 0 comments| Read more
EARTH AND CLIMATE

Atmosphere's Emission Fingerprint Affected By How Clouds Are Stacked

Clouds, which can absorb or reflect incoming radiation and affect the amount of radiation escaping from Earth's atmosphere, remain the g...

03 Sep 2013 | 0 comments| Read more

Fact of the day!

Today’s science fact is about the Texan Horned Lizard.

This lizard deters predators by shooting its own blood into their face. Out of its eyes. Apparently the blood taste......Learn More!

BIOLOGY

New 'Walking' Shark Species

The newfound species of walking shark, Hemiscyllium Halmahera, grows up to 27 inches (70 centimeters) long and is harmless to humans. ...

31 Aug 2013 | Read more
PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Birds choose sweet-smelling mates

In a first-of-its-kind study, a Michigan State University researcher has demonstrated that birds communicate via scents, and that odo...

04 Sep 2013 | Read more
PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY

Polymer gel, heal thyself: University of Pittsburgh engineering team proposes new composites that can regenerate when damaged

In the computer simulation, the composite is cut (far left) and the nanorods begin migration to the cut interface. In the third image, t...

27 Nov 2013 | Read more
EARTH AND CLIMATE

Atmosphere's Emission Fingerprint Affected By How Clouds Are Stacked

Clouds, which can absorb or reflect incoming radiation and affect the amount of radiation escaping from Earth's atmosphere, remain the g...

03 Sep 2013 | Read more
STRANGE SCIENCE

Why Do U.S. Behavioral Science Researchers Keep Skewing Their Results?

Mad Science J.J. via Wikimedia Commons Despite its lofty ideals, science isn't always impartial and unbiased. S...

31 Aug 2013 | Read more
GUEST POSTS

The 20 big questions in Science

 From the nature of the universe (that's if there is only one) to the purpose of dreams, there are lots of things we still don't k...

02 Sep 2013 | Read more
SCIENCE FICTION

Science Fiction - The Engine Behind Summer Blockbusters

Aldric Chang The tradition of anticipating (Western) summertime full-length feature films with the best special effects spectacle fro...

28 Jan 2013 | Read more
SCIENCE VIDEOS

Today's Video

Read Whole Article Click Here!

Cotton with special coating collects water from fogs in desert

Eindhoven University of Technology

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) together with researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), have developed a special treatment for cotton fabric that allows the cotton to absorb exceptional amounts of water from misty air: 340% of its own weight. What makes this 'coated cotton' so interesting is that the cotton releases the collected water by itself, as it gets warmer. This property makes of the coated cotton materials a potential solution to provide water to the desert regions, for example for agricultural purposes. The results of this research will be published next month in the scientific journal Advanced Materials.
The researchers applied a coating of PNIPAAm, a polymer, to the cotton fabric. At lower temperatures, this cotton has a sponge-like structure at microscopic level. Up to a temperature of 34°C it is highly hydrophilic, in other words it absorbs water strongly. Through this property the cotton can absorb 340 % of its own weight of water from misty air -- compared with only 18% without the PNIPAAm coating.
Totally pure water
In contrast, once the temperature raises the material becomes hydrophobic or water-repellant, and above 34°C the structure of the PNIPAAm-coated cotton is completely closed. When these high temperatures are reached the cotton has released all the absorbed water, which is totally pure. The research shows that this cycle can be repeated many times.
Inspiration from Nature
Beetles in desert areas can collect and drink water from fogs, by capturing water droplets on their bodies, which roll into their mouths. Similarly, some spiders capture humidity on their silk network. This was the inspiration for this new coated-cotton material, which collects and releases water from misty environments simply as the temperature changes throughout the day.
Low-cost material
This property implies that the material may potentially be suitable for providing water in deserts or mountain regions, where the air is often misty at night. According to TU/e researcher dr. Catarina Esteves a further advantage is that the basic material -- cotton fabric -- is cheap and can be easily and locally produced. The polymer coating increases the cost slightly, but with the current conditions the amount required is only about 12%. In addition, the polymer used is not particularly costly.
Eindhoven University of Technology
Placed directly on the soil
Fine-mesh 'fog harvesting nets' are already being used in some mountains and dry coastal areas, but these use a different principle: they collect water from misty air, by droplets that gradually form on the nets and fall to the ground or a suitable recipient. But this system depends on a strong air flow, wind. The coated cotton developed the research team can also work without wind. In addition, cotton fibers coated with this polymer can be laid directly where the water is needed, for example on cultivated soil. The researchers are also considering completely different applications such as camping tents that collect water at night, or sportswear that keeps perspiring athletes dry.
Further optimization
The research was led by professor John Xin at PolyU and dr. Catarina Esteves at TU/e. They now intend to investigate further how they can optimize the quality of the new material. For example they hope to increase the amount of water absorbed by the coated-cotton. Moreover they also expect to be able to adjust the temperature at which the material changes from water-collecting to the water-releasing state, towards lower temperatures.

Source: Eindhoven University of Technology


Follow Science Relief on Twitter @ScienceRelief . We're also on Facebook & Google+.


DON’T FORGET TO- Leave Your Comments!


Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, January 23, 2013. Filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0

0 comments for Cotton with special coating collects water from fogs in desert

Leave comment

Featured slider

Photo Gallery

Designed by Solaranlagen | with the help of Bed In A Bag and Lawyers
Blogging tips