空気中から飲料水を生成するジャケットを開発(This Jacket Pulls Drinking Water From Thin Air)

2026-06-11 テキサス大学オースチン校(UT Austin)

米国のThe University of Texas at Austinの研究チームは、空気中の水分を吸収して飲料水を生成できるウェアラブル素材を開発した。この新素材はジャケットに組み込むことが可能で、乾燥地域や災害時など、水の確保が困難な環境での利用を想定している。素材には高い吸湿能力を持つ機能性材料が用いられており、周囲の空気から水蒸気を捕集した後、太陽光や体温などの穏やかな熱エネルギーによって水を放出する仕組みである。従来の大気水収集技術は大型装置や外部電源を必要とする場合が多かったが、今回の技術は軽量で携帯性に優れ、衣服として利用できる点が特徴である。研究チームは、個人が着用するだけで継続的に水を確保できる可能性を示し、将来的にはアウトドア活動、軍事用途、人道支援、気候変動による水不足対策などへの応用を期待している。本成果は、ウェアラブル技術と持続可能な水資源確保を融合した新しいアプローチとして注目される。

空気中から飲料水を生成するジャケットを開発(This Jacket Pulls Drinking Water From Thin Air)
The textile incorporated into the jacket collects moisture and funnels it to detachable harvesting units.

<関連情報>

パーソナライズされたウェアラブル大気水収集に向けたスケーラブルな階層型繊維 Scalable hierarchical textile fibers toward personalized wearable atmospheric water harvesting

Chuxin Lei, Yongzheng Zhang, Lu He, Yuyang Wang, […] , and Guihua Yu
Science Advances  Published:10 Jun 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aed9949

Abstract

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) offers a decentralized, sustainable solution to global freshwater scarcity, enabling clean water in diverse environments. However, translating ideal sorption properties of small-scale materials into practical, large-scale systems faces critical kinetic challenges. Here, we conceptualize a hierarchical textile fiber for wearable AWH, addressing the scaling limitations of traditional sorbents. These fibers feature an open-pore surface topology and internal hierarchical pore structures, which accelerate surface vapor liquefaction and subsequent water transport, demonstrating exceptional water uptake and rapid sorption kinetics across varying relative humidity (RH). When woven into textiles, the fibers maintain efficient vapor diffusion through their macroporous, breathable architecture, achieving a 3- to 10-fold improvement over traditional sorbents at scale. We engineered a wearable prototype combining the AWH textile with a portable collector, achieving 3.76 to 7.45 literswater per kilogramsorbent per day and collecting 410 to 894 milliliters across 20 to 80% RH. By overcoming kinetic limitations, our study advances AWH toward scalability and wearability with implications for global water sustainability.

 

ゲル状ファブリック構造を採用した、あらゆる気候条件に対応する、持ち運び可能な太陽光発電式リットル規模の大気水収集システム Field‑portable, solar‑powered, litre-scale atmospheric water harvesting across climates with gel fabric architecture

Weixin Guan,Yaxuan Zhao,He Shan,Yan Zhe Wong,Chuxin Lei,Debapriyo Roy,Yuyang Wang,Xiaomeng Liu,Ghim Wei Ho,Keith P. Johnston & Guihua Yu
Nature Water  Published:09 June 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00645-6

Abstract

Accelerating progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 by 2030 requires a decentralized, off-grid water supply strategy that performs across various climates. Here we report a field-portable, solar-powered, litre-scale atmospheric water-harvesting system built through a cross-scale material-to-system design that unites sorbent–device configuration with climate-aware operation. In this system, hierarchically porous cellulosic gel fabrics are assembled into compact, channelized cartridges and integrated with a solar-concentrated, transport-matched modular system, overcoming the long-standing trade-off between portability and productivity. A humidity-adaptive protocol compensates for humidity disparity and sustains output across diverse conditions. Outdoor trials delivered 1.3 l of water in Austin with a dual module (~62% relative humidity, 4.7 l m−2 d−1) and 4.3 l m−2 d−1 in the Chihuahuan Desert (~26% relative humidity), and operation persisted under cloudy conditions (~0.4 sun) with 310 ml of water produced per module. Geospatial analysis showed peak annual yields co-locate with water stress hotspots. This portable, modular platform provides climate-robust, litre-scale drinking water and a practical accelerator and equity lever for SDG 6.

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