Solar-Responsive Interface Self-Assembled MOF-Derived Foam for Adaptive Indoor Humidity Regulation

Abstract

In the context of increasingly complex living environments, it is crucial to develop smart indoor wall materials for resisting external interference such as humidity changes. Herein, we report a facile and scalable strategy to prepare advanced polyurethane (PU) foam as a multifunctional indoor wall, integrating solar-driven humidity regulation, noise absorption, and flame retardancy. Benefiting from the in situ synthesis technology to maintain the original metal–organic framework (MOF) porosity (0.149 cm³/g) and realize a high MOF loading (63.72%), the advanced PU-based module showed excellent water collection abilities and fast water transport kinetics. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, the designed PU-based regulation system provided a comfortable humidity environment (40–70% RH) of a simulated room in outdoor experiments, dependent on the automatic water collection of the Al-fumarate backbone at night as well as the continuous water evaporation promoted by the photothermal layer during daytime. Therefore, the developed multifunctional PU-based management module has great potential for constructing modern, comfortable, and energy-efficient indoor environments.