Xie Zhanjun, Zhu Jintao, Zhang Lianbin
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China.
Shenzhen Huazhong University of Science and Technology Research Institute, Shenzhen 51800, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Feb 24;13(7):9027-9035. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c22917. Epub 2021 Feb 12.
Solar-driven steam generation is a promising technology for the production of freshwater from seawater and polluted water. High water evaporation rates have been achieved via the interfacial heating scheme; however, they are still limited to meet the increasing need for freshwater due to the restricted evaporation area of two-dimensionally (2D) geometrical planar photothermal membranes. Herein, a three-dimensionally (3D) structured solar evaporator is prepared via coating photothermal polypyrrole (PPy) on the spike of () for highly efficient evaporation. Due to the enlarged evaporation area and open structure for vapor dissipation, the PPy-coated spike solar evaporator shows a high water evaporation rate of 3.72 kg m h under one sun illumination. The 3D solar evaporator also demonstrates good durability and anti-salt-clogging performance for real-life applications. Furthermore, we show that the 3D solar evaporator demonstrates effective decontamination of saline water, dye-contaminated water, and corrosive water. This work can inspire new paradigms toward developing high-performance solar steaming technologies for effective water purification to address the worldwide crisis of freshwater shortage.
太阳能驱动的蒸汽产生是一种从海水和污水中生产淡水的很有前景的技术。通过界面加热方案已经实现了高水蒸发率；然而，由于二维（2D）几何平面光热膜的蒸发面积受限，它们仍然无法满足对淡水日益增长的需求。在此，通过在（）的尖刺上涂覆光热聚吡咯（PPy）制备了一种三维（3D）结构的太阳能蒸发器，以实现高效蒸发。由于蒸发面积扩大和蒸汽消散的开放结构，涂覆PPy的尖刺太阳能蒸发器在一个太阳光照下显示出3.72 kg m² h的高水蒸发率。这种3D太阳能蒸发器在实际应用中还表现出良好的耐久性和抗盐堵塞性能。此外，我们表明这种3D太阳能蒸发器对盐水、染料污染水和腐蚀性水具有有效的净化作用。这项工作可以激发开发高性能太阳能蒸发技术以实现有效水净化的新范例，从而解决全球淡水短缺危机。
