Luo Zhi-Yong, Wang Dong, Chen Kai-Xuan, Huang Lingqi, Liu Xiangyang, Zhang Qi, Zhu He, Zhu Shiping
School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, P.R. China.
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, P.R. China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jun 16;13(23):27726-27733. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c09398. Epub 2021 Jun 4.
Solar-thermal water evaporation is a promising technology for pure water production. However, the design of low-cost systems for efficient antifouling solar-thermal water evaporation remains a challenge. Herein, an evaporator based on metal oxy-hydroxides with a hierarchical and hollow structure is rationally designed through material selection and structural engineering. The obtained evaporator possesses good light absorption performance, excellent antifouling property against oil, and enhanced heat localization ability. Consequently, the water evaporation rate reaches as high as 1.65 kg m h with a solar-thermal conversion efficiency up to 82.3% under 1 sun illumination. More importantly, the evaporator exhibits almost identical evaporation performance in oily wastewater and natural seawater due to its superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity. This work provides a worth-adopted approach to prepare solar-thermal evaporators with high efficiency and anti-oil-fouling property, highlighting the new application of metal oxy-hydroxide-based materials and the importance of a hierarchical and hollow structure for efficient solar-thermal water evaporation.
太阳能热水蒸发是一种很有前景的纯水生产技术。然而，设计低成本的高效防污太阳能热水蒸发系统仍然是一个挑战。在此，通过材料选择和结构工程合理设计了一种基于具有分级和中空结构的金属羟基氧化物的蒸发器。所获得的蒸发器具有良好的光吸收性能、优异的抗油防污性能和增强的热局域化能力。因此，在1个太阳光照下，水蒸发速率高达1.65 kg m h，太阳能热转换效率高达82.3%。更重要的是，由于其超亲水性和水下超疏油性，该蒸发器在含油废水和天然海水中表现出几乎相同的蒸发性能。这项工作提供了一种值得采用的方法来制备具有高效和抗油污性能的太阳能热蒸发器，突出了金属羟基氧化物基材料的新应用以及分级和中空结构对高效太阳能热水蒸发的重要性。
