Advancing QUAsiperiodic metal-organic FRAMEworks for atmospheric water harvesting

The world stands on the brink of a major water crisis. The distributed capture of water from the atmosphere through sustainable materials is an innovative approach that holds great promise for the mitigation of water insecurity. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), with their unprecedented porosity and chemical tunability, have recently proved to be ideal candidates for real-world atmospheric water harvesting. However, current MOF water harvesters have serious drawbacks, including high energy consumption and low water productivity in non-temperate climates. The AQUAFRAME project aims to develop and thoroughly characterize MOFs with random and correlated disorder (“quasiperiodic MOFs”) to improve the efficiency of the atmospheric water harvesting process. The objectives of the interdisciplinary proposed research are to merge quasiperiodic MOF (a) synthesis, (b) synchrotron X-ray characterization and (c) computational modelling to gain molecular-level insights into the ways disorder influences MOF water uptake, paving the way for the design of next-generation water harvester systems that break current performance records. The project will have scientific, economic and social impact as it is designed to transform the established view of water harvesting MOFs as perfectly ordered materials, and to provide a novel solution to the global challenges related to water scarcity. It will be supervised by eminent scientists including Prof. Omar Yaghi of the University of California at Berkeley, the inventor of MOFs and foremost developer of MOF water harvesting systems. It will incisively contribute to the researcher’s career development by allowing him to acquire interdisciplinary research and transferable skills at Sapienza University of Rome, UC Berkeley, and during a secondment at Columbia University. The project will produce research methods in a cutting-edge field, articles intended to deliver scientific breakthroughs, and dissemination and outreach to key target audiences.