ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2022
·
IF 10.383
Ran Niu,Yang Ding,Liang Hao,Jiaxin Ren,Jiang Gong,Jinping Qu
The integration of renewable solar energy-driven interfacial evaporation and photocatalysis has recently emerged as one of the most promising technologies for simultaneous freshwater production and pollutant removal. However, the construction of an advanced integrated system with the merit of a fast supply of water and pollutant molecules remains challenging for efficient solar-driven evaporation and photocatalytic performance. Herein, inspired by the transpiration of plants, we fabricate a biomimetic, vertically channeled polypyrrole/foam-like carbon nitride/poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PCH) by directional freeze-drying. We prove that the vertically aligned channels not only reduce heat loss and improve energy conversion efficiency but also facilitate the transport of water and organic pollutants to the air–water interface. Benefiting from the advantages above, the PCH evaporator presents a high solar evaporation efficiency of 92.5%, with the evaporation rate achieving 2.27 kg m–2 h–1 under 1 kW m–2 irradiation, exceeding many advanced interfacial solar-driven evaporators. Meanwhile, PCH reaches a degradation efficiency of 90.6% within 1 h when dealing with tetracycline (a typical antibiotic)-polluted water, remarkably higher than that of the hydrogel without vertically aligned channels (68.6%). Furthermore, the as-formed reactive oxygen species effectively kill Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial in the source water, achieving the all-round water purification. In an outdoor experiment, after 11 h of sunlight irradiation, the tetracycline degradation efficiency and freshwater production of the PCH evaporator rise to 99.0% and 6.2 kg m–2, respectively. This work highlights the novel biomimetic approach to fabricate multifunctional photothermal materials for simultaneous freshwater production and polluted-water remediation.
研究领域:
环境科学
·
材料科学
·
太阳能技术
✓ 已验证
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
·
2024
·
IF 10.7
Yi Hu,Jianing Xu,Yu Chen,Feifei Pei,Jiqing Lu,Jie Yan,Wanli Cheng,Dong Wang,Long Bai,Guangping Han,Yingying Zhang
High-performance solar interface evaporators provide a promising, sustainable, and cost-effective solution to the global freshwater crisis through seawater purification. However, achieving a delicate balance between maximizing the evaporation rate and ensuring continuous, stable, and durable operation presents a critical challenge. Herein, we present a biomimetic cellulose/polypyrrole-coated silica/graphene evaporator with self-assembled nanofiber networks and vertically aligned vessels for enhanced salt resistance. Asymmetric wettable surfaces are constructed by precisely controlling cellulose nanofibers surface siloxane groups via thermal actuation. The hydrophobic surface layer prevents salting accumulation, and the unique biomimetic cell structure of the lower hydrophilic layer acts as a stem for fast water transportation. Flexible vertical channels and interconnecting networks constructed of cellulose fibers with high porosity enable the simultaneous achievement of maximum solar absorption (light absorption efficiency: 96.34 %), exceptional mechanical properties and continuous water channels for mass transfer. The hierarchical structure and functional constituents contribute to an impressive evaporation rate of 2.78 kg m −2 h −1 under one-sun illumination. The evaporator further performs remarkable outdoors and maintains reliability in highly concentrated salt water (20 wt%). The Janus-structured, salt-rejecting biomimetic aerogel evaporator developed in this study presents an eco-friendly and cost-effective solution for sustainable clean water production.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
·
生物仿生学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2021
·
IF 9.229
Yujie Yan,Qizhen Chen,Xiumei Wang,Yaqian Liu,Rengjian Yu,Changsong Gao,Huipeng Chen,Tailiang Guo
Organic phototransistors (OPTs) have attracted enormous attention because of their promising applications in sensing, communication, and imaging. Currently, most OPTs reported utilize field-effect transistors (FETs) with relative long channel length which usually has undesired amplification because of their inherent low transconductance originated from their low channel capacitance, limiting the further improvement of performance. Herein, a vertical channel hybrid electrochemical phototransistor with a nanoscale channel and large transconductance (VECPT) is invented for the first time to achieve ultrahigh photoresponsivity along with a fast response speed. Benefiting from the nanoscale channel length and large transconductance, the photo-generated carriers in channel can be efficiently dissociated, transported, and amplified into the enlarged photocurrent output. Therefore, the devices deliver substantially improved optoelectronic performances with a photoresponsivity as high as ≈2.99 × 107 A/W, detectivity of ≈1.49 × 1013 Jones, and fast-speed response of ≈73 μs under a low voltage of 1 V, which are superior to those of the reported OPTs based on FETs. Moreover, the in situ Kelvin probe microscopy is performed to characterize the surface potential of device systems for better elucidating the photosensing mechanism. Furthermore, taking advantage of its excellent optoelectronic performance, an ultraviolet light monitoring system is constructed by integrating VECPT with a light-emitting diode, which also shows the real-time, high-sensitive, and controllable photoresponse threshold properties. All these results demonstrate the great potential of these electrochemical phototransistors and provide valuable insights into the design of the nanoscale channel length device system for high-performance photodetection.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
电子工程
·
光电器件
✓ 已验证
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2023
·
IF 9.5
Xinjian Dai,Hao Guan,Xin Wang,Mingyue Wu,Jihang Hu,Xiaoqing Wang
Solar-assisted interfacial evaporation is a promising approach for purifying and desalinating water. As a sustainable biomass material, wood has attracted increasing interest as an innovative substrate for solar desalination, owing to its intrinsic porous structure, high hydrophilicity, and low thermal conductivity. However, developing wood-based solar evaporators with high evaporation rates and excellent salt resistance still remains a significant challenge, owing to the absence of large pores with high interconnectivity in natural wood. Herein, by converting the honeycombed structure of natural wood into a lamellar architecture via structural engineering, we develop a flexible wood sponge with vertically aligned channels for efficient and salt-resistant solar desalination after surface coating with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The special lamellar structure with an interlayer distance of 50–300 μm provides the wood sponge with faster water transport, lower thermal conductivity, and water evaporation enthalpy, thus achieving higher evaporation performances in comparison with the cellular structure of natural wood. Noteworthy, the vertically aligned channels of the wood sponge facilitate sufficient fluid convection and diffusion and enable efficient salt exchanges between the heating interface and the underlying bulk water, thus preventing salt accumulation on the surface. Benefiting from the distinctive lamellar structure, the developed wood-sponge evaporator exhibits exceptional salt resistance even in a hypersaline brine (20 wt %) during continuous 7-day desalination under 1 sun irradiation, with a high evaporation rate (1.38–1.43 kg m–2 h–1), outperforming most previously reported wood-based evaporators. The lamellar wood sponge may provide a promising strategy for desalinating high-salinity brines in an efficient manner.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
·
能源工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
·
2023
·Vol. 33
·期 23
·2214157
·
IF 19
Wenjing Ma,Tao Lu,Wenxuan Cao,Ranhua Xiong,Chaobo Huang
Solar steam generation has become one of the most promising strategies to relieve the freshwater crisis. Whereas, the construction of a solar-thermal water evaporation structure that can operate continuously under sunlight to generate clean water with high efficiency, good stability, and high salt-rejecting capability is quite crucial but challengeable. Enlightened by the water transport and transpiration process in trees, an advanced nanofibrous aerogel evaporator is fabricated with multifunctional capabilities through decoration of functional component onto an aerogel skeleton. The rational integration of hierarchical structure and functional constituents, results in outstanding solar-vapor conversion efficiency of 96.1% and a fast evaporation rate about 2.33 kg m −2 h −1 under 1 sun. Additionally, the evaporator exhibits remarkably outdoor evaporation and highly effective salt-resistant performances. Significantly, the evaporator can monitor salt precipitation in its inner pores in real time. This study demonstrates an eco-friendly and economic solution for sustainable clean water production using nanofiber aerogel-based evaporators.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
·
能源科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2021
·
IF 9.229
Yaohui Liang,Nan Chen,Wenjie Qu,Cheng Yang,Li Li,Feng Wu,Renjie Chen
Polymer electrolytes are the key candidates for solid-state batteries benefiting from their intrinsic advantages over inorganic electrolytes in terms of flexibility and easy processability. However, they suffer from low ionic conductivity and poor mechanical strength, which restrict their wide utilization. Conventional ceramic fillers are used to improve the mechanical properties of polymer electrolytes but lack sufficient Li+ conductivity. In this work, a framework with vertical channels that possess fast Li+ movement is designed. It is found that the poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) compound in the vertical channel framework benefits to improve the ionic conductivity and mechanical strength synchronously. The framework in which ionic liquids are loaded on a zirconium dioxide surface (ZrO2@ILs) helps to improve ionic conductivity by 2 orders of magnitude compared with PEO, which is due to the enhanced orientation of ion transport. By optimizing the content of ZrO2@ILs, the elastic modulus is also tripled. Therefore, the symmetric lithium battery can cycle stably for more than 800 h at a current density of 0.25 mA cm–1, whereas the lithium metal battery has a specific capacity of 135 mAh g–1 at a current density of 2C and can cycle stably for more than 200 cycles at 60 °C.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源科学
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
·
2024
·
IF 18.5
Tianyu Zhao,Dongzhi Yang,Bai-Xue Li,Yongzheng Shi,Qiuyan Quan,Nikhil Koratkar,Zhong-Zhen Yu
The electrochemical performance of supercapacitors drops precipitously at extreme low temperatures due to a multitude of reasons, which includes electrolyte freezing, sluggish ion transport in the electrode and electrolyte, and high charge transfer resistance at electrode–electrolyte interfaces. To address high interface resistance, a new supercapacitor architecture is reported, in which MXene/carbon nanotube electrodes with vertically aligned channels are synthesized to reduce tortuosity and maximize the electrode–electrolyte contact area. These electrodes are fabricated using a directional-freezing strategy, generating direct and fast ion transport pathways. Further, a freeze-resistant electrolyte which shows high ionic conductivity is synthesized by designing a double-crosslinked polymer network in a binary solvent consisting of ionic liquid and water, which exhibits an ultralow freezing temperature of −54 °C. An all-in-one supercapacitor is assembled by an integrated polymerization strategy to minimize interfacial resistances. The resulting device delivers a specific capacitance of 231 F g −1 at 2 mV s −1 and a maximum energy density of 10.17 Wh kg −1 , while maintaining a capacitance retention of 92%, even at an extreme low temperature of −50 °C. The supercapacitor architecture developed in this study, demonstrates the feasibility of electrochemical energy storage at extreme low temperatures.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源存储
·
电化学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2025
·
IF 13.2
Tingting Zhang,Yan Lv,Pusen Cao,Zhiru Song,Qian Wang,Yong Guo,Lu Hong,Yuxia Chen
Cellulose aerogel evaporators provide a sustainable strategy to balance energy consumption and freshwater production due to their biocompatibility, renewability, high specific surface area, and large porosity. Inspired by the abundant hierarchal, interconnected water transport channels in luffa vine (LV) that favor efficient evaporation, this study designed an aerogel with vertical channels having micropores on their walls. Fibrillated luffa vine cellulose fibers (LVFB) prepared via mechanochemical methods, retained their original pore structures, and then they were combined with sodium alginate (SA). The aerogel with hierarchical pore structure (LSA-D) was fabricated through directional freeze-drying and calcium ion cross-linking. The natural pore structures of LVFB and the vertical channels in the aerogel led to effective reduction in thermal conductivity (0.055 W⋅m −1 ⋅K −1 ) and enhancement in water absorption rate (17.3 g⋅g −1 ). Moreover, fiber micropores facilitated intercommunication of water and salts among different channels to achieve efficient salt reflux. Next, graphene oxide coating and thermal reduction further improved the light absorption and photothermal conversion efficiency. The final aerogel evaporator exhibited an evaporation rate of up to 2.70 kg⋅m −2 ⋅h −1 under 1-sun illumination, and no salt accumulation was observed during continuous evaporation in brine for 36 h. The aerogel demonstrated significant purification capabilities toward wastewater containing organic dye, heavy metal solutions, and acidic solutions in simulated real-world environments. This study not only enhances the efficient utilization and added value of LV, but also provides innovative design ideas for the structural design of solar evaporator materials, offering significant practical application prospects in addressing 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
DESALINATION
·
2025
·
IF 9.8
Ruiqi Li,Yuan Liu,Jie He,Chunhong Zhang,Jianwei Bai,Yueling Sun,Wenxin Diao,XiaoYan Tang
The technology of solar-driven interfacial water evaporation (SDWE) is a promising approach for producing freshwater, which addresses the challenges of water scarcity and aims for sustainable desalination. However, the low rate of evaporation poses a major obstacle to the broader implementation of SDWE technology. In the present research, drawing inspiration from the porous structure of natural wood, we developed hydrogel evaporators with vertically aligned channels adjusting pore sizes, composed of polyacrylamide/hydroxypropyl cellulose, through directional freeze casting techniques. In view of excellent superhydrophilic properties and adjustable aperture, the transport of water was improved to meet the requirement of thermal management preferably, effectively reducing heat loss. Furthermore, by optimizing hydratable polymeric network within the polyacrylamide/hydroxypropyl cellulose evaporator, the enthalpy of water evaporation could was reduced, resulting in a higher evaporation rate. The hydrogel evaporator prepared achieved a remarkable rate of 2.68 kg m −2 h −1 and an efficiency of 90.0 % under irradiation of 1 sun. In addition, this hydrogel evaporator displayed excellent resistance to salt and maintained stability during evaporation, making it a viable option for purifying various non-potable water types. Thus, this research provides an innovative perspective for improving the efficacy of solar-driven interfaces in processes such as seawater desalination and wastewater treatment by managing water transport and decreasing evaporation enthalpy.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境工程
·
能源技术
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Small
·
2024
·Vol. 20
·期 29
·2310978
·
IF 13
Chenyu Ma,Wenting Feng,Debin Kong,Xinru Wei,Xuelei Gong,Jianhang Yang,Junwei Han,Linjie Zhi
Rechargeable sodium chloride (Na-Cl 2 ) batteries have emerged as promising alternatives for next-generation energy storage due to their superior energy density and sodium abundance. However, their practical applications are hindered by the sluggish chlorine cathode kinetics related to the aggregation of NaCl and its difficult transformation into Cl 2 . Herein, the study, for the first time from the perspective of electrode level in Na-Cl 2 batteries, proposes a free-standing carbon cathode host with customized vertical channels to facilitate the SOCl 2 transport and regulate the NaCl deposition. Accordingly, electrode kinetics are significantly enhanced, and the deposited NaCl is distributed evenly across the whole electrode, avoiding the blockage of pores in the carbon host, and facilitating its oxidation to Cl 2. With this low-polarization cathode, the Na-Cl 2 batteries can deliver a practically high areal capacity approaching 4 mAh cm −2 and a long cycle life of over 170 cycles. This work demonstrates the significance of pore engineering in electrodes for mediating chlorine conversion kinetics in rechargeable alkali-metal-Cl 2 batteries.
研究领域:
电化学
·
能源材料
·
纳米结构材料
·
储能技术
·
电极工程
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Nano Materials
·
2024
·
IF 5.3
Wendi He,Jiawei Shi,Jiaming Shen,Jianfei Che,Yongzheng Zhang
Supercapacitors have emerged as a significant technology for energy transmission, offering an alternative to traditional energy storage devices with the ability to provide a high power supply and life. However, their application and development have been hindered by tension between flexibility, self-support, and high energy density. In this study, cellulose was utilized as the primary raw material with graphene oxide (GO) employed as the filler. Through careful regulation of morphological control using radial freeze casting, the electrode exhibited both longitudinally and radially vertical-channeled porosity structure, resulting in a remarkable areal capacitance of 463 mF cm–2 at a current density of 1 A cm–2. Additionally, the constructed all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor exhibited a high energy density of 49.7 μWh cm–2 at a power density of 500 μW cm–2. This research paves the way for more flexible and lightweight supercapacitors with the potential for long-term performance in energy storage applications.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源技术
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
FUEL
·
2023
·
IF 7.4
Linjie Guan,Meiyu Liu,Honghai Liu,Li Zhang,Yiming Zhang,Yucai Qin,Binbin He,Yi Mei,Yun Zu
The regulation of the engineering regionally spatial framework aluminum (Al F ) distribution in MFI channels has been considered as an effective way for the production of light olefins by targeted fluid catalytic cracking (TCO) technology. In this work, ZSM-5 zeolites with controlled Al F distributions are facilely synthesized by tuning the combinations of pentaerythritol (PET), tetrapropylammonium (TPA) and Na cations. The Al F atoms in the prepared HZ5-[PET + Na] and HZ5-[TPA] samples are enriched in the straight channels and intersection channels, respectively, which are favorable to the n-butane monomolecular reaction pathway, promoting the propylene production. Whereas the Al F atoms in the HZ5-[TPA + Na] sample are simultaneously distributed in both the straight and intersection channels, the n-butane molecules preferentially take place monomolecular reaction in the straight channels to generate carbonium ions (e.g., C 2 H 5 + , C 3 H 7 + and C 4 H 9 + ). Subsequently, all of them enter into the intersection channels to induce the occurrence of bimolecular reaction. Such a process is conducive to the formation of ethylene. These insights can help to clarify the catalytic behavior of regional framework acid sites in ZSM-5 channels and then provide an effective approach to design efficient TCO catalysts.
研究领域:
化学工程
·
催化
·
材料科学
✓ 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）