{"id":236958,"date":"2026-05-12T02:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/light-reshapes-metal-organic-framework-to-harvest-airborne-water"},"modified":"2026-05-12T02:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:36:16","slug":"light-reshapes-metal-organic-framework-to-harvest-airborne-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/light-reshapes-metal-organic-framework-to-harvest-airborne-water","title":{"rendered":"Light reshapes metal-organic framework to harvest airborne water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/light-reshapes-metal-organic-framework-to-harvest-airborne-water.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chemists at the University of Iowa have created a three-dimensional lattice that captures water from the air and stores it. In a new study <a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/jacs.6c01019\" target=\"_blank\">appearing<\/a> in the <i>Journal of the American Chemical Society<\/i>, researchers describe a millimeter-scale structure made of metal atoms connected by two types of organic molecules. When exposed to ultraviolet light, the material undergoes a chemical reaction that changes its shape, creating cavities throughout the lattice. Those cavities attract water molecules from the air and store them\u2014like a multitude of tiny canteens.<\/p>\n<p>The results, which would need to be tested at larger scales, show promise as a method to help provide drinking water to people and areas with limited access. Water stress or scarcity will affect nearly five billion people\u2014half the world\u2019s projected population\u2014by 2050, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have found and validated a way to capture and to store water that would require only sunlight,\u201d says Leonard MacGillivray, adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and former professor and department chair. \u201cYou can transport the crystal lattice and eventually release the water on demand. That\u2019s why it\u2019s such an advance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chemists at the University of Iowa have created a three-dimensional lattice that captures water from the air and stores it. In a new study appearing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers describe a millimeter-scale structure made of metal atoms connected by two types of organic molecules. When exposed to ultraviolet light, the [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,48,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chemistry","category-particle-physics","category-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}