Journal of Cleaner Production
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2022
·
IF 11.072
Jun Xiong,Jie Yi,Shuai Peng,Zhihui Yang,Yuming Wu,Weiming Wang,Shaofang Lv,Junjun Peng,Chen Xue,Xue Min,Ming Li,Takayoshi Nakamura
Solar steam production is regarded as a potential approach for extracting freshwater from undrinkable water. However, it remains a challenge to acquire a low-cost, salt-resistant, durable and efficient solar evaporator through a simple fabrication process. This work presents a plant transpiration-inspired three-dimensional (3D) solar evaporator fabricated by decorating industrial polyester fiber bundles (PFBs) with inexpensive polypyrrole (PPy). This solar evaporator is named the PPy-PFBs. Intriguingly, PFBs composed of hydrophobic polyester fibers with multiple vertical channels are capable of pumping enough water to the top of the solar evaporator through the capillary effect and storing seven times its mass of water, allowing for salt-resistant. In addition, polyester fiber is resistant to acid, alkali, mildew, and sunlight, making the PPy-PFBs durable. Along with the heat generated from sunlight absorbed by the PPy, the 3D solar evaporator can also gain energy from the environment. Adjusting the exposure height and arrangement of PPy-PFBs can control the evaporation rate . The matrix arranged PPy-PFBs with an exposure height of 6 cm attains a high water evaporation rate of 3.77 kg m −2 h −1 with an energy conversion efficiency of 155.77%. Outdoor experiments demonstrate that the PPy-PFBs can extract freshwater from non-drinkable water. 1 m 2 of PPy-PFBs can produce about 26 kg of fresh water per day, which is enough to meet the daily drinking water needs of 10 adults. This low-cost, easily made, salt-resistant, durable and high evaporation rate solar evaporator is appealing to alleviate the global freshwater crisis.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2025
·
IF 13.2
Xianfeng Peng,Jingjing Wang,Wenyan Yan,Xingyu Lin
Plant transpiration is a ubiquitous process that continuously release water vapor to the atmosphere, which is an untapped resource of water. Hygroscopic sorbents are potential candidates to address water scarcity through efficient solar-driven atmospheric water harvesting (AWH). However, the composite sorbents containing multiple components are typically toxic and environment harmful, with low photothermal efficiency and poor cyclic stability. Herein, we utilize all natural plant-derived precursors for one-step synthesis of phosphate-polymer-wrapped carbon dots (PWCD) with multi-carbonized cores inside and wrapped polymer chains in the surrounding. Without need to combine other materials, the single all-in-one PWCD particle exhibits multiple functions including low toxicity, biocompatible, high moisture absorption, low-energy desorption, high photothermal temperature, excellent cyclic stability and antibacterial properties. The PWCD can absorb water vapor across a wide range from 10% to 90% RH, with water uptake ranging from 0.11 to 3.23 g water /g absorbents . Furthermore, PWCD also shows excellent photothermal desorption ability, with final photothermal temperature surpass 100 °C for in situ sterilization. The presence of wrapped polymer prevents PWCD from aggregation and agglomeration, enhancing their cyclic stability. As the results, the biocompatible PWCD was successfully applied for water harvest from plant transpiration, producing 0.51 g·g −1 per cycle near Epipremnum aureum while keeping plant fresh.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
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植物学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
RSC Advances
·
2024
·Vol. 14
·期 26
·18832-18837
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IF 3.9
Yahua Liu,Bingzhong Xiao,Quanmao Wei,Zichao Yuan,Wenzhuo Song,Ling Zhou,Wenna Ge
Water evaporation-induced electricity generators are considered a promising green energy-harvesting technology to alleviate the increasingly serious fossil energy crisis. Previous water evaporation-induced electricity generators mainly focused on single component carbon black, limiting the improvements in energy output. At present, there are relatively few studies on multi-component carbon black for improving electricity-generation performance. Herein, inspired by plant transpiration, we designed a fabric-based water evaporation-induced electricity generator (FWEG) based on multi-component carbon black, which can maintain a voltage of 0.65 V for more than 48 h. Through the synergistic effect of multi-component carbon black-enhanced oxygen-containing functional density, the FWEG can generate an enhanced output current of 61.61 μA without any additional energy input. Moreover, we show that the FWEG can be integrated readily to charge commercial capacitors or directly power LED lights and calculators for a long time. This work provides new insights for designing high-performance hydrovoltaic electricity generators for sustainable green energy harvesting.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源技术
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Nature Water
·
2024
·Vol. 2
·期 7
·663-673
·
IF 0
Zou Hao,Yang Xinge,Zhu Jingling,Wang Fan,Zeng Ziya,Xiang Chengjie,Huang Danfeng,Li Jun,Wang Ruzhu
In the face of escalating global water scarcity, intensified by population growth and agricultural demands, there is an urgent need to improve water efficiency in greenhouse cultivation. The rapid development of atmospheric water harvesting technology offers us an opportunity to address this issue. Here a novel, solar-driven, scalable hygroscopic gel, termed TCP-Li, that demonstrates exceptional water uptake capacity (3.38 g water g sorbent −1 ) and rapid solar thermal water release was reported. As a proof-of-concept application, we utilize this material in a transpiration and evaporation adsorption device (TEAD), which leverages the properties of TCP-Li to efficiently harvest water vapour from plant transpiration and soil evaporation. TEAD operates passively, absorbing moisture at high relative humidity during the night and releasing water for irrigation during the day using natural sunlight. Greenhouse experiments confirmed the efficacy of TEAD in ensuring normal plant growth while providing additional irrigation water (87.1 g per plant and 1,890.6 g m −2 ), thereby achieving an average water-saving effect of 44.9%. This study introduces a groundbreaking solution aimed at enhancing water efficiency in greenhouse cultivation, offering substantial potential for commercial and large-scale agricultural applications and significantly contributing to mitigating the global water crisis and optimizing water use in modern agriculture.
研究领域:
农业工程
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环境科学
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可持续农业
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材料科学
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水资源管理
✓ 已验证
DOI
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
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2025
·
IF 19
Jin Duan,Zhe Liu,Gege Hang,Yanan Wang,Xiuchen Wang
Harvesting energy from the ubiquitous environmental water vapor cycle is a promising pathway for sustainable power generation. Human skin releases ≈40–340 W of thermal energy per hour through perspiration, and even converting 1% could power most low-energy wearable devices. However, achieving stable vapor capture, directional transport, and efficient charge separation in the skin microenvironment remains a key challenge for hygrothermal energy conversion. Inspired by plant transpiration, a bioinspired moisture-guiding heterogeneous interface is constructed to fabricate a Janus Alk-MXene PVA@Alk-PVA-PVDF fibrous membrane with hydrophilic adsorption, ion conduction, and evaporation-driven traction, enabling directional vapor transport and efficient charge separation. With a thickness of 0.084 mm, the membrane combines flexibility, breathability, and excellent integration compatibility for wearable applications. A 1 cm 2 Janus MEG delivers a rapid response of 1.07 s, 1.18 V output, ≈935.2 µA cm −2 short-circuit current density, and ≈1103.5 µW cm −2 power density, retaining ≈0.87 V after one month and demonstrating excellent moisture sensitivity with stable voltage output. Furthermore, a modular three-unit series–parallel configuration achieves ≈2.32 V and ≈46.4 mA under high humidity, providing a sustainable strategy for self-powered wearable electronics in medical monitoring and next-generation human–machine interaction.
研究领域:
能量收集
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材料科学
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纳米技术
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柔性电子学
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环境科学
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生物物理学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）