Kim Changwook, Shin Dongheok, Baitha Monu Nath, Ryu Yunha, Urbas Augustine M, Park Wounjhang, Kim Kyoungsik
School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea.
Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jun 30;13(25):29602-29611. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c05883. Epub 2021 Jun 17.
Sunlight-based desalination is one of the most environment-friendly, low-cost methods for obtaining freshwater on the planet. We implemented a biomimetic three-dimensional (3D) solar evaporator, improved by a solar-induced air-flow updraft. A carbon-coated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) foam allowed us to achieve perfect absorption of ultrabroadband sunlight and continuously provide water to tall 3D structures. Integrating the convection flower () and solar chimney structure, we proposed a bio-inspired 3D solar evaporator system that generates an updraft airflow. This updraft replaces saturated vapor between neighboring PVA foams with dry air, resulting in a significant increase in the effectiveness of dry air-water contact interfaces. Under the 1 sun condition (1 kW m), we achieve a high solar-vapor conversion efficiency of 95.9%.
基于阳光的海水淡化是地球上获取淡水最环保、成本最低的方法之一。我们实现了一种仿生三维（3D）太阳能蒸发器，通过太阳能诱导的气流上升得到了改进。一种碳包覆的聚乙烯醇（PVA）泡沫使我们能够实现对超宽带阳光的完美吸收，并持续为高大的3D结构供水。通过整合对流花（）和太阳能烟囱结构，我们提出了一种受生物启发的3D太阳能蒸发器系统，该系统可产生上升气流。这种上升气流用干燥空气取代相邻PVA泡沫之间的饱和蒸汽，从而显著提高干燥空气与水接触界面的效率。在1个太阳条件（1千瓦·米）下，我们实现了95.9%的高太阳能-蒸汽转换效率。
