Rational rose portable portable#

“We were searching for more efficient ways to apply the solar-steaming technique for water production by using black filtered paper coated with a special type of polymer, known as polypyrrole,” Fan said.

Rational rose portable portable#

Those in the know would more accurately describe it as a portable low-pressure controlled solar-steaming-collection “unisystem.” But its resemblance to a flower is no coincidence. Oh, and it also looks just like a black-petaled rose in a glass jar. The team’s method uses inexpensive materials that are portable and lightweight. Attached to a stem-like tube that collects untreated water from any water source, the 3D rose shape makes it easier for the structure to collect and retain more liquid.Ĭurrent solar-steaming technologies are usually expensive, bulky and produce limited results. In a paper published in the most recent issue of the journal Advanced Materials, the authors outline how an origami rose provided the inspiration for developing a new kind of solar-steaming system made from layered, black paper sheets shaped into petals. Each flower-like structure costs less than 2 cents and can produce more than half a gallon of water per hour per square meter.Ī team led by associate professor Donglei (Emma) Fan in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering developed a new approach to solar steaming for water production – a technique that uses energy from sunlight to separate salt and other impurities from water through evaporation.

A new device for collecting and purifying water, developed at The University of Texas at Austin, was inspired by a rose and, while more engineered than enchanted, is a dramatic improvement on current methods. Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at AustinĪUSTIN, Texas - The rose may be one of the most iconic symbols of the fragility of love in popular culture, but now the flower could hold more than just symbolic value.