Unraveling a Stable 16-Ring Aluminophosphate DNL-11 through Three-Dimensional Electron Diffraction for Atmospheric Water Harvesting

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is a promising solution for addressing water scarcity. Developing cost-effective and stable water adsorbents with high water uptake capacity and a low-temperature regeneration requirement is a crucially important procedure. In this Communication, we present a novel and stable aluminophosphate (AlPO) molecular sieve (MS) named DNL-11 with 16-ring channels synthesized by using an affordable and commercialized organic structure directing agent (OSDA), whose crystallographic structure is elucidated by three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D ED). DNL-11 exhibits a significant water uptake capacity (189 mg/g) at a very low vapor pressure (5% relative humidity at 30 °C). In addition, most of the adsorbed water can be effortlessly removed by purging N2 at 25 °C under ambient pressure conditions. This may expand the possibility of AWH under extreme drought conditions.