Harvesting water from air in sorption-based devices is a promising solution to decentralized water production, aiming for providing potable water anywhere, anytime. This technology involves a series of coupled processes occurring at distinct length scales, ranging from nanometer to meter and even larger, including water sorption/desorption at the nanoscale, condensation at the mesoscale, device development at the macroscale and water scarcity assessment at the global scale. Comprehensive understanding and bespoke designs at every scale are thus needed to improve the water-harvesting performance. For this purpose, a brief introduction of the global water crisis and its key characteristics is provided to clarify the impact potential and design criteria of water harvesters. Next the latest molecular-level optimizations of sorbents for efficient moisture capture and release are discussed. Then, novel microstructuring of surfaces to enhance dropwise condensation, which is favorable for atmospheric water generation, is shown. After that, system-level optimizations of sorbent-assisted water harvesters to achieve high-yield, energy-efficient, and low-cost water harvesting are highlighted. Finally, future directions toward practical sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting are outlined.

中文翻译：

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基于吸附的大气集水器的分层工程

在基于吸附的设备中从空气中收集水是分散式水生产的一种有前景的解决方案，旨在随时随地提供饮用水。该技术涉及在不同长度尺度（从纳米到米甚至更大）发生的一系列耦合过程，包括纳米尺度的水吸附/解吸、介观尺度的冷凝、宏观尺度的设备开发以及全球尺度的水资源短缺评估。因此，需要对各个规模进行全面的了解和定制设计，以提高集水性能。为此，简要介绍了全球水危机及其主要特征，以阐明集水机的影响潜力和设计标准。接下来讨论了用于有效捕获和释放水分的吸附剂的最新分子级优化。然后，显示了新颖的表面微观结构，以增强滴状冷凝，这有利于大气中水的生成。之后，重点介绍了吸附剂辅助集水器的系统级优化，以实现高产、节能和低成本的集水。最后，概述了基于吸附的大气水收集的未来方向。