Low-carbon indoor humidity regulation via 3D-printed superhygroscopic building components

Magda Posani (), Vera Voney, Pietro Odaglia, Yi Du, Anastasija Komkova, Coralie Brumaud, Benjamin Dillenburger and Guillaume Habert
Additional contact information
Magda Posani: ETH Zürich
Vera Voney: ETH Zürich
Pietro Odaglia: ETH Zurich
Yi Du: ETH Zürich
Anastasija Komkova: ETH Zürich
Coralie Brumaud: ETH Zürich
Benjamin Dillenburger: ETH Zurich
Guillaume Habert: ETH Zürich

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Indoor humidity can significantly impact our comfort and well-being, often leading to the use of mechanical systems for its management. However, these systems can result in substantial carbon emissions and energy precarity. This study offers an alternative: using low-carbon materials that naturally buffer moisture to passively regulate the indoor humidity. A geopolymer composite incorporating industrial waste is implemented via binder jet 3D printing technology. The superhygroscopic nature of the material, combined with the optimal geometry of 3D-printed components, unlocks remarkable potential for passive humidity regulation, achieving a moisture buffering value over 14 g·m⁻²·%RH⁻¹. The use of 3D-printed, geopolymer tiles for surface finishing in a library hosting 15 people was shown to improve annual indoor hygrometric comfort by up to 85%, a performance inconceivable with conventional materials and techniques. Additionally, the environmental impact of these tiles is significantly lower than that of a conventional dehumidification system. This study paves the way for merging highly hygroscopic, low-carbon materials with advanced manufacturing techniques to regulate indoor humidity levels and reduce our dependency on mechanical systems.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54944-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-54944-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54944-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().