Engineers find the hydrogel polyethylene glycol (PEG) doubles its water absorption as temperatures climb from 25 to 50 C, and could be useful for passive cooling or water harvesting in warm climates.

Every evening during the summer of 2020, Xingyi Zhou went up to the roof of her lab building at the University of Texas at Austin to check on two plastic boxes containing radish plants. Plants in one ...

The gel material is cheap to make, and a single kilogram can produce liters of water in seemingly dry conditions. Reading time 4 minutes As the world becomes increasingly hot, fresh and clean water is ...

The latest chemistry news, including important research advances, business and policy trends, chemical safety practices, career guidance, and more. On a rooftop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the device ...

An extreme closeup of feathers from a bird with an uncanny ability to hold water while it flies could inspire the next generation of absorbent materials. With high resolution microscopes and 3D ...

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (July 13, 2020) – Providing clean water to Soldiers in the field and citizens around the world is essential, and yet one of the world’s greatest challenges. Now a new ...

The vast majority of absorbent materials will lose their ability to retain water as temperatures rise. This is why our skin starts to sweat and why plants dry out in the heat. Even materials that are ...