Enhancing Cooling and Atmospheric Water Harvesting via Zeolite-MOF Composites: Experimental and Thermodynamic Evaluation of MIL-160 (Al) and AFI-Type Zeolite Hybrid Adsorbents

This study presents the development of physically mixed composite adsorbents comprising MIL-160 (Al) metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and AFI-type zeolites for atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) and adsorption cooling (AC) systems driven by low-grade thermal energy. Tailoring the pore architecture and hydrophilic–hydrophobic balance resulted in synthesized composites with “S-shaped” water adsorption isotherms and sharp phase transitions. This enables high water uptake within narrow temperature ranges. The composites were synthesized via a reflux-assisted method and demonstrated exceptional thermal stability (>300 °C), rapid adsorption–desorption kinetics, and strong recyclability under repeated cycling. Dynamic simulations that incorporated experimentally validated isotherms and kinetics revealed that the composite adsorbents enhanced system performance by providing higher cooling power and efficiency. Compared to pristine MIL-160 (Al) metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), the hybrid adsorbents improved the coefficient of performance (COP) by up to 68.3% (0.58), increased the specific cooling power (SCP) by 108.8% (up to 0.69 kW/kg), and boosted the specific water productivity by 54.4% (up to 6.797 L H2O/kg MOF). Integrating MIL-160 (Al)/AFI zeolite composites into AWH and AC systems provides an energy-efficient pathway for thermal management and decentralized water harvesting applications.