Sorbents, processes and applications beyond water production in sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting

Growth in the global population and the modernization of human society, along with ever-worsening climate change, is pushing already scarce freshwater resources to their limits. Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is an emerging process that takes advantage of atmospheric water vapour as an alternative water resource and has great potential in producing freshwater at a decentralized scale by using low-grade energy—especially solar thermal energy—in a sustainable manner. The past 5 years have witnessed great advances in AWH sorbents, system designs and new applications beyond water production. Here we utilize a unique chemical potential-based approach and critically analyse the available literature on sorption-based AWH. We provide an overview of the three-step AWH process, discuss AWH sorbents and their key features and properties, analyse water production systems, review AWH’s application to water production and beyond, and provide perspective on how managing the current challenges could lead to new opportunities. In this Review, Li and Wang utilize a unique chemical potential-based approach and critically analyse the available literature on sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting, including sorbents, processes and applications beyond water production.