High-efficiency atmospheric water harvesting via 3D-patterned hybrid surfaces enabled by solvent-selective polymer swelling

The global escalation of water scarcity necessitates the development of high-efficiency, passive atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) systems. While hybrid wettability surfaces excel at droplet manipulation, their practical application is critically bottlenecked by conventional planar processing techniques, which fundamentally fail to impose high-resolution chemical patterns onto complex 3D architectures without rigid physical masks. Herein, we shatter this geometric limitation by presenting a transformative, first-of-its-kind strategy that enables the extreme wettability patterns directly onto 3D structures. By integrating multimaterial 3D printing with a bottom-up, solvent-selective polymer swelling process, we exploit the thermodynamic solubility disparity between Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Polylactic Acid (PLA) to achieve a completely binder-free, mechanical interlocking of ZIF-8 nanoparticles exclusively within the ABS regions. This unprecedented approach successfully decouples macroscopic geometric design from microscopic chemical functionalization. It enables the creation of mathematically optimized 3D spherical harvesters that drastically minimize solid-liquid contact lines and accelerate gravity-driven droplet shedding. The resulting 3D-patterned harvesters achieved an exceptional water collection efficiency of 3158.31 mg/cm², representing an extraordinary 7-fold enhancement over conventional 2D planar designs. Ultimately, this work establishes a highly scalable, paradigm-shifting materials engineering platform that transcends traditional lithography, offering a robust solution for sustainable water recovery.