Yang Yudi, Sui Yujin, Cai Zaisheng, Xu Bi
Key Laboratory of Science and Technology of Eco-Textiles Ministry of Education College of Chemistry Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Donghua University 2999 North Renmin Road Shanghai 201620 China.
Glob Chall. 2019 May 22;3(9):1900004. doi: 10.1002/gch2.201900004. eCollection 2019 Sep.
Solar-driven vapor generation is a promising method to mitigate freshwater shortage and water contamination. However, most of the current highly efficient solar evaporators suffer from low robustness, tedious preparation procedures, and high cost. In this study, an easy-to-manufacture, low-cost, and high-reliability solar-driven evaporator is designed using a black cotton towel with a hollow conical shape. The reactive dye molecules diffuse into the cotton and form strong covalent bonds with the fiber after dyeing, which firmly fixes light-absorbing materials on the substrate. The looped pile structure of towels and hierarchical structure of yarns enable the evaporator enlarged surface area. The hollow conical shape of the cotton towel can effectively suppress the heat loss to the environment without compromising light absorption. The 3D vapor generator exhibits an evaporation rate of 1.40 and 1.27 kg m h for pure water and saline water, respectively. Meanwhile, this towel-based solar-driven evaporator exhibits a promising antifouling property as well as superior reusability and provides a reliable pathway in dealing with realistic waters, such as seawater and dyeing sewage. Therefore, the low-cost, solar-driven water evaporation system offers a complementary approach for high-efficiency vapor generation and water purification in practical application.
太阳能驱动的蒸汽产生是缓解淡水短缺和水污染的一种有前景的方法。然而，目前大多数高效太阳能蒸发器存在鲁棒性低、制备过程繁琐和成本高的问题。在本研究中，使用中空圆锥形的黑色毛巾设计了一种易于制造、低成本且高可靠性的太阳能驱动蒸发器。活性染料分子在染色后扩散到棉花中并与纤维形成强共价键，从而将光吸收材料牢固地固定在基底上。毛巾的毛圈结构和纱线的分层结构使蒸发器具有更大的表面积。棉毛巾的中空圆锥形可以有效抑制向环境的热损失，同时不影响光吸收。该三维蒸汽发生器对纯水和盐水的蒸发速率分别为1.40和1.27 kg m⁻² h⁻¹。同时，这种基于毛巾的太阳能驱动蒸发器具有良好的抗污性能以及卓越的可重复使用性，并为处理诸如海水和印染污水等实际水体提供了可靠途径。因此，这种低成本的太阳能驱动水蒸发系统在实际应用中为高效蒸汽产生和水净化提供了一种补充方法。
