TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermoresponsive Polymers for Water Treatment and Collection
AU - Xu, Xiaohui
AU - Bizmark, Navid
AU - Christie, Kofi S.S.
AU - Datta, Sujit S.
AU - Ren, Zhiyong Jason
AU - Priestley, Rodney D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/3/22
Y1 - 2022/3/22
N2 - To overcome the current scarcity of fresh water sustainably, new technologies will be required that produce potable water from a range of sources, including seawater and moisture from the atmosphere. Moreover, we must recover and reuse water from wastewater streams to reduce our global water footprint. To date, there remain significant concerns about the environmental/ecological impact, high energy consumption, and extensive maintenance costs of current technologies that might prevent their transition to more sustainable routes of potable water generation. One class of material that can enable low-energy water production is thermoresponsive polymers. Due to their unique phase behavior, production flexibility, and biocompatibility, these materials may allow for sustainable routes to fresh water in current and new technologies. In this Perspective, we specifically summarize the design and application of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)- (PNIPAm-) based thermoresponsive microgels and hydrogels. In particular, we show how these materials have been used for water purification, including wastewater treatment, seawater desalination, and moisture harvesting from the atmosphere. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of transforming current thermoresponsive materials into practical water-related technologies.
AB - To overcome the current scarcity of fresh water sustainably, new technologies will be required that produce potable water from a range of sources, including seawater and moisture from the atmosphere. Moreover, we must recover and reuse water from wastewater streams to reduce our global water footprint. To date, there remain significant concerns about the environmental/ecological impact, high energy consumption, and extensive maintenance costs of current technologies that might prevent their transition to more sustainable routes of potable water generation. One class of material that can enable low-energy water production is thermoresponsive polymers. Due to their unique phase behavior, production flexibility, and biocompatibility, these materials may allow for sustainable routes to fresh water in current and new technologies. In this Perspective, we specifically summarize the design and application of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)- (PNIPAm-) based thermoresponsive microgels and hydrogels. In particular, we show how these materials have been used for water purification, including wastewater treatment, seawater desalination, and moisture harvesting from the atmosphere. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of transforming current thermoresponsive materials into practical water-related technologies.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01502
DO - 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01502
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85126122585
SN - 0024-9297
VL - 55
SP - 1894
EP - 1909
JO - Macromolecules
JF - Macromolecules
IS - 6
ER -