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Thermo-responsive gels that absorb moisture and ooze water

Author

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  • Kazuya Matsumoto

    (Kansai University)

  • Nobuki Sakikawa

    (SHARP Corporation)

  • Takashi Miyata

    (Kansai University
    Kansai University)

Abstract

The water content of thermo-responsive hydrogels can be drastically altered by small changes in temperature because their polymer chains change from hydrophilic to hydrophobic above their low critical solution temperature (LCST). In general, such smart hydrogels have been utilized in aqueous solutions or in their wet state, and no attempt has been made to determine the phase-transition behavior of the gels in their dried states. Here we demonstrate an application of the thermo-responsive behavior of an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) gel comprising thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and hydrophilic sodium alginate networks in their dried states. The dried IPN gel absorbs considerable moisture from air at temperatures below its LCST and oozes the absorbed moisture as liquid water above its LCST. These phenomena provide energy exchange systems in which moisture from air can be condensed to liquid water using the controllable hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of thermo-responsive gels with a small temperature change.

Suggested Citation

  • Kazuya Matsumoto & Nobuki Sakikawa & Takashi Miyata, 2018. "Thermo-responsive gels that absorb moisture and ooze water," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04810-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04810-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Yinglai Hou & Zhizhi Sheng & Chen Fu & Jie Kong & Xuetong Zhang, 2022. "Hygroscopic holey graphene aerogel fibers enable highly efficient moisture capture, heat allocation and microwave absorption," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Xinge Yang & Zhihui Chen & Chengjie Xiang & He Shan & Ruzhu Wang, 2024. "Enhanced continuous atmospheric water harvesting with scalable hygroscopic gel driven by natural sunlight and wind," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Lin Zhang & Sicheng Xing & Haifeng Yin & Hannah Weisbecker & Hiep Thanh Tran & Ziheng Guo & Tianhong Han & Yihang Wang & Yihan Liu & Yizhang Wu & Wanrong Xie & Chuqi Huang & Wei Luo & Michael Demaessc, 2024. "Skin-inspired, sensory robots for electronic implants," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Mohammed Sanjid Thavalengal & Muhammad Ahmad Jamil & Muhammad Mehroz & Ben Bin Xu & Haseeb Yaqoob & Muhammad Sultan & Nida Imtiaz & Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, 2023. "Progress and Prospects of Air Water Harvesting System for Remote Areas: A Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-27, March.

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