Loofah-structured hydrogel could help meet global clean water demands

More than a quarter of the world’s population lacks access to safe drinking water. The task of water purification is further complicated by the need to keep energy use to a minimum, not only to reduce costs but also to avoid exacerbating climate change and further water scarcity. Water purification based on thermoresponsive hydrogels, are particularly attractive because they can soak up water like a sponge from a contaminated source and when wrung out release clean water using no other energy than sunshine. However, this process is slow. Now, Xiaohui Xu and colleagues led by Rodney Priestley at Princeton University in the US report ‘a breakthrough to overcome the inherent slow response rate.