Li Qingwei, Zhao Xia, Li Lingxiao, Hu Tao, Yang Yanfei, Zhang Junping
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Petrochemical Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, PR China; Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Petrochemical Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, PR China.
Center of Eco-Material and Green Chemistry, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000 Lanzhou, PR China.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Feb 15;584:602-609. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.10.002. Epub 2020 Oct 12.
Solar driven interfacial evaporation has received extensive attention as a very promising desalination technique to solve the fresh water shortage crisis. However, salt-fouling and poor stability during long-term solar desalination seriously hinder applications of solar evaporators. In addition, most of the reported evaporators rely on expensive materials and complex preparation processes. Here, we report facile preparation of polydimethylsiloxane/carbon nanotubes (PDMS/CNTs) modified melamine solar evaporators for efficient steam generation and desalination. The elastic solar evaporators feature (i) macroporous network with rough skeleton owing to phase separation of PDMS, high solar absorbance (99%) and excellent photothermal performance, low thermal conductivity (0.032 W m K), and (iii) unique wettability (hydrophobic upper surface and hydrophilic lower part). Consequently, the evaporators have an evaporation rate of 1.44 kg m h and a solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 84% for solar evaporation of deionized water under 1 sun illumination. Interestingly, the evaporators show similar solar evaporation performance for saline water compared to deionized water. Moreover, the evaporators show excellent salt-resistance and stability during long-term continuous solar desalination owing to rapid water replenishment in the evaporators. The evaporators may find practical applications in solar desalination because of the merits of the evaporators and the simple preparation method.
作为一种极具前景的解决淡水短缺危机的海水淡化技术，太阳能驱动界面蒸发受到了广泛关注。然而，长期太阳能海水淡化过程中的盐污染和稳定性差严重阻碍了太阳能蒸发器的应用。此外，大多数已报道的蒸发器依赖于昂贵的材料和复杂的制备工艺。在此，我们报道了一种简便制备聚二甲基硅氧烷/碳纳米管（PDMS/CNTs）改性三聚氰胺太阳能蒸发器的方法，用于高效蒸汽产生和海水淡化。这种弹性太阳能蒸发器具有以下特点：（i）由于PDMS的相分离而具有粗糙骨架的大孔网络、高太阳能吸收率（99%）和优异的光热性能、低热导率（0.032 W m K），以及（iii）独特的润湿性（疏水上表面和亲水下部）。因此，在1个太阳光照下，该蒸发器对去离子水进行太阳能蒸发时，蒸发速率为1.44 kg m h，太阳能到蒸汽的转换效率为84%。有趣的是，与去离子水相比，该蒸发器对盐水也表现出相似的太阳能蒸发性能。此外，由于蒸发器中快速的水补充，在长期连续太阳能海水淡化过程中，该蒸发器表现出优异的抗盐性和稳定性。由于该蒸发器的优点和简单的制备方法，其可能在太阳能海水淡化中找到实际应用。
