Sustainable Water Harvesting in Arid Regions: New Research Finds Low-Cost Solution

Researchers from Lanzhou University of Technology have proposed a sustainable water harvesting solution for greenhouses in arid regions using a low-cost technology that combines radiative cooling and bionic structures. This innovative approach overcomes the challenges of complex structures or high costs associated with efficient radiative cooling materials. The study, published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, demonstrates a composite cooling material that achieves a maximum temperature reduction of 9.7 °C below ambient temperature and a maximum water collection capacity of 7.53 L·m·day under stable laboratory conditions.

Key Takeaways:

• Researchers from Lanzhou University of Technology developed a low-cost water harvesting solution using a composite cooling material with a production cost of only 5.23 USD/m.
• The material achieved a maximum temperature reduction of 9.7 °C below ambient temperature at night.
• The maximum water collection capacity reached 7.53 L·m·day under stable laboratory conditions and 4.08 L·m·day in greenhouse environments during nighttime.
• The material showed minimal performance degradation after 3 months of testing, with a mere 1% decrease in material emissivity and a 5% variation in hydrophobic surface contact angle.
• This research provides a cost-effective, durable, and sustainable water harvesting strategy for agricultural greenhouses in arid regions.
• The study was peer-reviewed and published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Statistics:

• The production cost of the composite cooling material is 5.23 USD/m.
• The maximum temperature reduction achieved by the material is 9.7 °C below ambient temperature.
• The maximum water collection capacity reached under stable laboratory conditions is 7.53 L·m·day.
• The maximum water collection capacity reached in greenhouse environments during nighttime is 4.08 L·m·day.
• The material showed a mere 1% decrease in material emissivity after 3 months of testing.

Sources:

• NewsRx. Lanzhou University of Technology Reports Findings in Sustainable Water (Sustainable Water Recycling in Arid Greenhouses: Low-Cost Approaches Using Radiation Cooling Synergies). Ecology, Environment & Conservation. August 1, 2025; p 213.
• Jiangbo Wu, Tao Ma, Xiaoze Du, Shujun Liu, and Qincheng Bi. Sustainable Water Recycling in Arid Greenhouses: Low-Cost Approaches Using Radiation Cooling Synergies. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2025.