He Jingxian, Zhang Zheng, Xiao Chaohu, Liu Fang, Sun Hanxue, Zhu Zhaoqi, Liang Weidong, Li An
College of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology, Langongping Road 287, Lanzhou 730050, P. R. China.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou City University, Jiefang Road 11, Lanzhou 730070, P. R. China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Apr 8;12(14):16308-16318. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b22832. Epub 2020 Mar 25.
Direct solar desalination with excellent solar photothermal efficiency, lower cost, and extended generator device lifetime is beneficial to increase potable water supplies. To address fundamental challenges in direct solar desalination, herein, we present a new and facile method for the scalable fabrication of the polymer porous foam (VMP) as salt-resistant photothermal materials, which was synthesized through a one-step hydrothermal method using styrene and 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate as monomers and ,'-methylenebisacrylamide as the cross-linking agent. The as-resulted VMP shows excellent mechanical properties which could have a compression strain of 30%, resulting in its superior processability for practical operation. In addition, by taking advantage of its inherent low density, well-controlled porous structure (porosity is 73.81%), and extremely low thermal conductivity (0.03204 W m K), the VMP exhibits an excellent solar evaporation property, and the solar photothermal efficiency can reach more than 88% under 1 kW m irradiation. Moreover, the introduction of ionic liquid moiety (imidazolium tetrafluoroborate) into VMP results in its interesting superhydrophilic wettability, which can accelerate water transportation (wetting in 5s) and resolve the crystalline salt within 1.13 h. In addition, the interconnected macropores of the VMP, as water channels, can replenish the vaporized brine on the surface to prevent salt from adhering. The VMP shows a salt-resistant performance, for example, its solar evaporation efficiency remains nearly unchanged after 6 h duration under 1 sun irradiation. Based on its simple and cost-effective manufacturing process, excellent solar photothermal efficiency, and salt resistance, our VMP may be a promising candidate as photothermal materials for practical desalination from seawater and other wastewater.
具有优异的太阳能光热效率、较低成本和延长发生器装置寿命的直接太阳能海水淡化，有利于增加饮用水供应。为了解决直接太阳能海水淡化中的基本挑战，在此，我们提出了一种新的简便方法，用于可扩展地制备聚合物多孔泡沫（VMP）作为耐盐光热材料，该材料通过一步水热法合成，使用苯乙烯和1-乙烯基-3-乙基咪唑四氟硼酸盐作为单体，以及N,N'-亚甲基双丙烯酰胺作为交联剂。所得的VMP显示出优异的机械性能，其压缩应变可达30%，从而使其在实际操作中具有卓越的加工性能。此外，利用其固有的低密度、可控的多孔结构（孔隙率为73.81%）和极低的热导率（0.03204 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹），VMP表现出优异的太阳能蒸发性能，在1 kW m⁻²的辐照下，太阳能光热效率可达88%以上。此外，将离子液体部分（咪唑四氟硼酸盐）引入VMP中，使其具有有趣的超亲水性润湿性，这可以加速水的传输（5秒内润湿）并在1.13小时内分解结晶盐。此外，VMP相互连接的大孔作为水通道，可以补充表面汽化的盐水，防止盐附着。VMP表现出耐盐性能，例如，在1个太阳辐照下持续6小时后，其太阳能蒸发效率几乎保持不变。基于其简单且经济高效的制造工艺、优异的太阳能光热效率和耐盐性，我们的VMP可能是用于从海水和其他废水中实际淡化的光热材料的有前途的候选者。
