Polymers
·
2024
·Vol. 16
·期 15
·2231
·
IF 4.7
Xiao Wang,Zhen Li,Xiaojing Wu,Bingjie Liu,Tian Tian,Yi Ding,Haibo Zhang,Yuanli Li,Ye Liu,Chunai Dai
Solar energy, as a clean and renewable energy source, holds significant promise for addressing water shortages. Utilizing solar energy for water evaporation is seen as an effective solution in this regard. While many existing interfacial photothermal water evaporation systems rely on nanoparticles or graphene as photothermal or support materials, this study introduced polydopamine (PDA) as a photothermal material due to its environmental friendliness and excellent photon absorption characteristics that closely match the solar spectrum. Polystyrene (PS) was also introduced as a support material for its porous structure and density similar to water, enabling it to float on water. The resulting PS-PDA composite porous structure solar evaporator exhibited a photothermal conversion efficiency comparable to nanoparticles (over 75%), yet with lower production costs and minimal environmental impact. This innovative approach offers a scalable solution for water-scarce regions, providing a cost-effective and efficient means to address water scarcity. The use of PDA and PS in this context highlights the potential for utilizing common materials in novel ways to meet pressing environmental challenges.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2023
·
IF 15.1
Shujing Zhao,Xin Zhang,Gang Wei,Zhiqiang Su
Interfacial solar-driven water evaporation is considered as an economic and efficient strategy to address the shortage of freshwater resources, which however suffers from severe salt pollution and poor long-term stable performance of seawater evaporation. Here, we design and construct a three-dimensional all-weather solar evaporator by zeolite-chitosan-TiO 2 @PPy aerogel (ZCTP), with an internally oriented pore arrangement structure by zeolite and chitosan assistance, which can efficiently enhance solar-driven water purification. Most importantly, long-term operation of the ZCTP aerogels using carbon fiber heating wires to fully utilize the solar energy that collected during the daytime to improve the efficiency of solar utilization and water purification. Benefiting from novel structural and functional design, the ZCTP aerogels exhibit high broadband light absorption (96 %), fast water transport (13 ms), and good thermal management properties (thermal conductivity of 0.1969 W m −1 K −1 in wet state). The obtained results show that the water evaporation rate of the ZCTP aerogel is 1.66 kg m -2 h −1 under 1 sun illumination. The integrated system of photothermal and electrothermal energy conversion mechanisms obtains an ultra-high water evaporation rate of 11.70 kg m -2 h −1 of 5 V voltage under 1 sun irradiation, achieving the purpose of continuous purification water around the clock. In addition, excellent salt resistance also enables perfect stability and reusability of ZCTP aerogel, even in the water with 20 % salt having minimal impact on the evaporation process and energy efficiency. Based on its excellent mechanical stability and highly ductility, simple and scalable manufacturing process, ZCTP aerogel may have great potential for all-weather efficient photothermal material for large-scale applications such as wastewater treatment, seawater desalination, and solar steam generation.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
npj Clean Water
·
2025
·Vol. 8
·期 1
·1-11
·
IF 11.4
Chen Kaiwen,Zhu Jianyi,Hao Cheng,Zhang Haonan,Tan Yujing,Xiao Xianfu,Sun Fengze,Han Xuewen,Peng Hui,Zhan Tianyi,Lyu Jianxiong,Yan Ning
Global climate change has exacerbated water scarcity, while traditional water treatment technologies are often unsustainable due to high energy consumption and negative environmental impacts, posing an urgent need for a sustainable solution. This study developed a novel wood-based flexible Janus membrane coupled with a spine structure for efficient oil-water emulsion separation and fog harvesting. The Janus wood membrane showed high separation efficiency (> 99.6%), high filtration flux (water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions exceeded 810 L/m²·h and 747 L/m²·h, respectively), and good reusability. Additionally, the introduction of spine and conical pores significantly enhanced fog collection efficiency (19.23 kg/m²·h), expanding the application potential of Janus membranes. Moreover, this Janus wood membrane offered excellent mechanical properties, dimensional stability, mildew resistance, and environmental benefits. This study underscored the potential of Janus membranes in water management and liquid separation, providing a sustainable solution to water scarcity.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Nanomaterials
·
2022
·Vol. 12
·期 19
·3296
·
IF 5.719
Zhou Wei,Muhammad Sultan Irshad,Naila Arshad,Laila Noureen,Iftikhar Ahmed,Naveed Mushtaq,Muhammad Sohail Asghar,Qaisar Hayat,Uzma Ghazanfar,Muhammad Idrees,Naeem Shahzad,Yuzheng Lu
Solar-driven evaporation is a promising technology for desalinating seawater and wastewater without mechanical or electrical energy. The approaches to obtaining fresh water with higher evaporation efficiency are essential to address the water-scarcity issue in remote sensing areas. Herein, we report a highly efficient solar evaporator derived from the nanocomposite of anatase TiO2/activated carbon (TiO2/AC), which was coated on washable cotton fabric using the dip-dry technique for solar water evaporation. The ultra-black fabric offers enhanced solar absorption (93.03%), hydrophilic water transport, and an efficient evaporation rate of 1.65 kg/m2h under 1 kW m−2or one sun solar intensity. More importantly, the sideways water channels and centralized thermal insulation of the designed TiO2/AC solar evaporator accumulated photothermal heat at the liquid and air interface along with an enhanced surface temperature of 40.98 °C under one sun. The fabricated solar evaporator desalinated seawater (3.5 wt%) without affecting the evaporation rates, and the collected condensed water met the standard of drinking water set by the World Health Organization (WHO). This approach eventually enabled the engineering design groups to develop the technology pathways as well as optimum conditions for low-cost, scalable, efficient, and sustainable solar-driven steam generators to cope with global water scarcity.Keywords:solar energy;water evaporation;anatase TiO2;AC;photothermal conversion;water scarcity
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
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能源工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
·
2021
·Vol. 6
·期 2
·2100095
·
IF 3.847
Wei Wang,Zhenzhen Liu,Zehao Zhang,Haibo Li
The shortage of fresh water resources is one of the major challenges facing this planet. Capacitive deionization (CDI) techniques that are deemed to be highly efficient and require low capital cost have attracted widespread attention in the last few decades. In this work, the cubic ternary metal oxides NiCo 4 MnO 8.5 (Ni–Co–Mn–O) are synthesized by facile hydrothermal method for enhanced symmetrical CDI. Electrochemical measurements illustrate that the Ni–Co–Mn–O possesses low internal resistance and ion diffusion impedance. As a result, the salt removal capacity of the Ni–Co–Mn–O electrode increases from 26.84 to 65.61 mg g −1 by varying the voltage from 0.8 to 1.4 V in 1.0 × 10 −2 m NaCl solution, while the charge efficiency stabilizes at ≈80%. After 20 cycles, the capacitance retained is 64.27%, which is due to the irreversibility of Co 2+ /Co 3+ and Mn 2+ /Mn 3+ and the release of Ni 3+ from the Ni–Co–Mn–O electrode after long desalination/salination cycles.
研究领域:
环境科学
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材料科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2025
·
IF 13.2
Chao Liang,Yipeng Quan,Wenting Qian,Shuang Guo,Shengjie Zheng,Guangjie Zhang,Mingsong Fan,Jun Xiong,Ming Li
The textile industry is a major contributor to environmental pollution and generates substantial waste each year. Recycling waste fabrics has garnered significant research interest, especially in addressing the urgent global challenge of freshwater scarcity. Interfacial solar desalination (ISD) is highly valued for its energy efficiency and environmental advantages. However, its application in desalination is hampered by various challenges, including low evaporation rate (ER) and insufficient salt resistance. In this study, a sustainable photothermal aerogel (PTA) made of polypyrrole (PPy)-decorated waste silk (WS) was developed, called PPy-WS-PTA, for efficient ISD. This PTA absorbs up to 96 % of sunlight. As a three-dimensional (3D) material, PPy-WS-PTA can capture energy from its surroundings. At an exposure height of 3 cm, the PPy-WS-PTA attains an ER of 2.04 kg m –2 h −1 under 1-sun. Due to its excellent water transport and storage capabilities, the PPy-WS-PTA can withstand 20 wt% saltwater while maintaining a stable ER of 1.61 kg m –2 h −1 . Outdoor desalination experiments have demonstrated that the PPy-WS-PTA can effectively desalinate 20 wt% saltwater. This PTA not only addresses freshwater shortages but also helps reduce fabric waste pollution and enhances reutilization efficiency.
研究领域:
环境科学
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材料科学
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能源工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
·
2025
·
IF 7.2
Yuhang Yu,Chao Liang,Youquan Li,Zijun Zhang,Weiming Wang,Jun Xiong,Ming Li
Interfacial solar-driven desalination (ISDD) offers a promising solution to global freshwater shortages. Challenges such as complex manufacturing, high costs, low evaporation rates, and poor salt resistance have hindered its adoption. This study introduces a spherical solar evaporator, PPy-PFS, created by coating polyester fibre spheres (PFS) with polypyrrole (PPy) via solution immersion. The black PPy-PFS achieves an evaporation rate of 2.10 kg m –2 h –1 under 1 sun. With strong water supply and storage, it maintains a stable rate of 1.61 kg m –2 h –1 in 25 wt% saltwater. Long-term indoor tests (30 days, 8 h per day) show PPy-PFS's durability in desalinating 20 wt% saltwater. Producing 1 m 2 of PPy-PFS costs about 25.97 $, with a cost-effectiveness of 80.86 g h –1 USD –1 . Outdoor tests reveal that 1 m 2 of PPy-PFS can produce around 10 kg of freshwater daily from 20 wt% saltwater. Continuous evaporation of highly concentrated saltwater results in salt crystallization, achieving zero liquid discharge (ZLD). This simply designed, cost-effective, efficient, and salt-resistant PPy-PFS evaporator provides a potential strategy for mitigating freshwater shortages.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
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能源工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Small
·
2024
·Vol. 20
·期 49
·2405742
·
IF 13
Jinhua Hu,Xin Yao,Keyu Han,Yumeng Ge,Shiqing Xu,Gongxun Bai
Solar-powered water evaporation as a clean and abundant renewable energy-efficient desalination technology provides a promising strategy to solve the shortage of freshwater resources. However, the development and application of solar vapor technology are hindered by the relatively low near-infrared photothermal conversion efficiency of existing materials and the lack of effective improvement strategies. In this work, the conductivity characteristics of 2D semiconductors are capitalized on the high visible light absorption and ultra-low thermal. Specifically, rare-earth ion dopants into SnSe nanosheets, significantly boosting their near-infrared photothermal conversion efficiency and solar water evaporation performance are introduced. Remarkably, the photothermal conversion efficiency of the doped SnSe nanosheets surged from 51.56% to 82.11%, surpassing many previously reported photothermal materials. Furthermore, leveraging these nanosheets with enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency, a solar interfacial evaporation system is constructed. The evaporation rate of 2.17 kg m −2 h −1 and the efficiency of 96.5% can be achieved at one solar irradiance, and it also has good salt-resistance properties. The findings demonstrate the potential of rare earth ion-doped 2D semiconductor nanosheets in solar water evaporation, paving the way for future sustainable desalination solutions.
研究领域:
材料科学
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能源技术
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环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Environmental Science-Nano
·
2022
·Vol. 9
·期 7
·2559-2571
·
IF 9.473
Meng Li,Mengwen Xu,Quanyu Shi,Haotian Wang,Hongmin Guo,Lidong Wang,Tony D. James
The shortage of freshwater resources caused by heavy metal pollution is an acute global issue. Herein, a novel nanoplatform was fabricated by hydrothermal deposition of 3D-MoS2 nanospheres onto biocompatible wood sponge (WS) for Hg(II) removal. Moreover, a secondary water purification strategy was investigated to produce drinkable water using the exhausted wood sponge. The exhausted MoS2-wood sponge (MWS) was used to construct a solar steam generator by wrapping with a hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) layer to prevent heavy metal ion leakage and to enhance the hydrophilicity. The energy conversion efficiency of the evaporator was calculated to be 95.48% under one sun illumination. Remarkably, the treatment of model desulphurization wastewater from power plants with this functional wood sponge could efficiently reduce the mercury concentration below the limit proposed by the World Health Organization for drinking water. These results provide a basis for the application of upcycled hazardous adsorbents for the purification of drinkable water.
研究领域:
环境科学
·
材料科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
·
2023
·
IF 7.7
Chuang Liu,Ruoyu Sun,Jing Zhao,Yixian Hu,Jiliang Mo
The scarcity of freshwater resources has had a significant impact on human life and wildlife survival. Fog harvesting has emerged as one of the most effective solutions to alleviate water scarcity in arid areas. At present, researchers have focused on optimizing hybrid surface designs to capture fog from the air and convert it into water droplets. Here, we prepared a hybrid surface for fog harvesting by a combination of chemical etching and surface modification with mechanical drilling. By adjusting the hole size and the ratio of hydrophilic-superhydrophobic area of the hybrid surfaces, the water collection efficiency was improved. The results indicated that the hole size affected the critical size of sliding water droplets, and the ratio of hydrophilic-superhydrophobic area affected the water droplet sliding speed and water collection frequency, thereby affecting the water collection efficiency per unit time. Therefore, by matching a specific hole size and ratio of hydrophilic-superhydrophobic area, the water collection volume and mobility of water droplets on the hybrid surfaces reached a dynamic equilibrium, achieving the optimal water collection efficiency. When the hole size was 1.0 mm, and the ratio of hydrophilic-superhydrophobic area was 1:4, the highest water collection rate was 805 mg/cm 2 /h, and the water collection efficiency was 17.5 %. By optimizing the hole size and the ratio of hydrophilic-superhydrophobic area, the water collection efficiency of the hybrid surface was maximized. This lays a solid foundation for promoting the practical applications of hybrid surfaces for fog harvesting.
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
·
2024
·
IF 13.3
Lichao Jiang,Honglang Lu,Wei Cui,Rong Ran
Solar hydrogel evaporators are attracting increasing attention due to the growing scarcity of freshwater resources. EGaIn liquid metal (LM), known for its excellent photothermal conversion and electrical conductivity, holds promise for enhancing hydrogel evaporators. However, the poor dispersion and tendency to deposit in water limit the practical application of LM. To overcome this challenge, carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT-COOH) and chitosan hydrochloride (HACC) are employed to uniformly diffuse and stabilise LM in this work, forming a stable suspension that can be used to prepare efficient hydrogel evaporators. A purely physical crosslinked hydrogel is then fabricated by carefully regulating intermolecular interactions. Since no chemical crosslinking agents are used, the risk of contaminating purified water through potential leakage is eliminated. This hydrogel evaporator exhibits excellent solar absorption (85 % across the 250–2500 nm wavelength range), a high evaporation efficiency of 91.2 %, and an evaporation rate of 2.50 kg m -2 h −1 under 1 kW m −2 irradiation. The ion concentrations in the purified water are reduced by three orders of magnitude, well below the WHO standard. Additionally, this gel evaporator also generates electricity, offering an approach to addressing both freshwater scarcity and clean energy needs simultaneously.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
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能源工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
·
2017
·Vol. 5
·期 34
·17817-17821
·
IF 8.867
Jing Fang,Qinglei Liu,Wang Zhang,Jiajun Gu,Yishi Su,Huilan Su,Cuiping Guo,Di Zhang
Efficient solar vapor generation under normal one-sun illumination is widely expected to relieve water scarcity all over the world. Herein, we prepare a highly efficient solar vapor generator via the deposition of Ag nanoparticles on diatomite. Ag/diatomite combined with a filter paper, an airlaid paper and a polystyrene foam showed excellent vapor generation performance (the evaporation rate and efficiency (η) were ∼1.39 kg m−2 h−1 and ∼92.2%, respectively) under one-sun illumination at room temperature (25.0 °C). To the best of our knowledge, these values outperform most of the previously reported vapor generation performances and vapor generation efficiencies (if not all). Compared to the performance of Ag/SiO2 (η ≈ 66.2%) and commercial Ag nanoparticles (η ≈ 72.6%), the outstanding performance of Ag/diatomite was attributed to the synergy of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of Ag nanoparticles and the confinement effect in micrometer size-diatomite. Considering the low cost ($10 per ton) and large-scale availability of diatomite as well as the easy construction of the vapor generation configuration that we proposed, this study provides prospects for practical applications towards relieving water scarcity.
研究领域:
材料科学
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环境科学
✓ 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）