Scalable hierarchical textile fibers toward personalized wearable atmospheric water harvesting

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) offers a decentralized, sustainable solution to global freshwater scarcity, enabling clean water in diverse environments. However, translating ideal sorption properties of small-scale materials into practical, large-scale systems faces critical kinetic challenges. Here, we conceptualize a hierarchical textile fiber for wearable AWH, addressing the scaling limitations of traditional sorbents. These fibers feature an open-pore surface topology and internal hierarchical pore structures, which accelerate surface vapor liquefaction and subsequent water transport, demonstrating exceptional water uptake and rapid sorption kinetics across varying relative humidity (RH). When woven into textiles, the fibers maintain efficient vapor diffusion through their macroporous, breathable architecture, achieving a 3- to 10-fold improvement over traditional sorbents at scale. We engineered a wearable prototype combining the AWH textile with a portable collector, achieving 3.76 to 7.45 liters water per kilogram sorbent per day and collecting 410 to 894 milliliters across 20 to 80% RH. By overcoming kinetic limitations, our study advances AWH toward scalability and wearability with implications for global water sustainability.