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Deposition of Porous Sorbents on Fabric Supports
Published on: June 12, 2018
Spontaneous Dropwise Wicking for Scalable Integration of Salt-Loaded Nanoporous Sorbents
Adela Chenyang Li1, Pasquale F Fulvio2, Josiah L Shimandle1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|July 11, 2026
Summary
A new dropwise-wicking method efficiently integrates salt-loaded sorbents into metal foams for atmospheric water harvesting and thermal energy storage. This technique overcomes challenges of loose powders, enabling robust and high-performance sorbent modules.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Energy Storage
Background:
- Salt-loaded nanoporous solids offer high water uptake for atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) and thermal energy storage (TES).
- Integrating these materials into practical devices is challenging due to their powder form and salt content.
- Robust, vapor-accessible substrates are crucial for scalable and durable sorbent modules.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel method for integrating salt-loaded sorbents into mechanically stable substrates.
- To overcome limitations of conventional integration techniques for practical AWH and TES applications.
- To establish a predictive framework for optimizing the integration process.
Main Methods:
- Developed a dropwise-wicking (Dropwick) methodology for depositing salt-loaded sorbents onto porous metal foams.
- Established a physical modeling framework using dimensionless numbers to guide Dropwick operation.
- Experimentally demonstrated Dropwick integration using salt-loaded hierarchical silica (LiCl@HSPEG).
Main Results:
- Achieved uniform, scalable coatings of salt-loaded sorbents on metal foam substrates.
- Preserved and even enhanced the intrinsic sorption performance of the integrated materials.
- Demonstrated the effectiveness of the predictive model in guiding the Dropwick process.
Conclusions:
- The Dropwick method provides a versatile strategy for integrating salt-loaded sorbents into robust substrates.
- This approach bridges material properties with device requirements for advanced AWH and TES systems.
- The developed methodology enables the creation of high-performance, durable sorbent modules for energy applications.
