This jacket extracts drinking water directly from the atmosphere.

      Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin have created a wearable jacket that extracts drinkable water from the air. This innovation presents a possible solution for hikers, military personnel, agricultural workers, and emergency responders who operate in areas without easy access to water.

      How the jacket gathers water

      The jacket’s material is crafted from a biomass-based hydrogel, which absorbs surrounding moisture and directs it to removable harvesting components. These components are housed within a foldable collector, where sunlight heats them to release the water for collection. In laboratory tests, the jacket produced between 400 and 900 ml of water daily, roughly equivalent to 14 to 30 ounces, depending on humidity levels. When compared to traditional water-harvesting materials, the textile demonstrated a performance improvement of three to ten times, as reported by the researchers.

      Science Advances

      The team’s research, published in Science Advances, fills a design void that has kept atmospheric water harvesting limited to fixed devices such as panels and sorbent beds. By integrating the transport pathway directly into the fiber, the fabric efficiently transitions water from vapor in the air to liquid on its surface and into the textile, eliminating the need for a separate unit.

      A separate achievement and broader goals

      In addition to the jacket study, the same team released a second paper in Nature Water detailing a solar-powered harvesting device that achieved a new output record: 1.3 liters of clean water per day in both arid and semi-humid climates, which amounts to 4.3 liters per kilogram of moisture-absorbing material each day. Field tests were conducted in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico and Austin, Texas.

      The researchers envision both the fabric and the device as part of a larger initiative to bring atmospheric water harvesting to regions in dire need, including parts of North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Future uses may include implementation in backpacks, tents, and emergency shelters.