Xu Ning, Zhang Haoran, Lin Zhenhui, Li Jinlei, Liu Guoliang, Li Xiuqiang, Zhao Wei, Min Xinzhe, Yao Pengcheng, Zhou Lin, Song Yan, Zhu Bin, Zhu Shining, Zhu Jia
Natl Sci Rev. 2021 Apr 21;8(10):nwab065. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwab065. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Complete separation of water and solute is the ultimate goal of water treatment, for maximized resource recycling. However, commercialized approaches such as evaporative crystallizers consume a large amount of electricity with a significant carbon footprint, leading to calls for alternative energy-efficient and eco-friendly strategies. Here, inspired by schooling fish, we demonstrate a collective system self-assembled by expanded polystyrene (EPS)-core/graphene oxide (GO)-shell particles, which enables autonomous, efficient and complete water-solute separation powered by sunlight. By taking advantage of surface tension, these tailored particles school together naturally and are bonded as a system to function collectively and coordinatively, to nucleate, grow and output salt crystals continuously and automatically out of even saturated brine, to complete water-solute separation. Solar-vapor conversion efficiency over 90% and salt production rate as high as 0.39 kg m h are achieved under 1-sun illumination for this system. It reduces the carbon footprint of ∼50 kg for treating 1-ton saturated brine compared with the commercialized approaches.
水和溶质的完全分离是水处理的最终目标，以实现资源回收最大化。然而，诸如蒸发结晶器等商业化方法消耗大量电力，碳足迹显著，因此需要替代的节能和环保策略。在此，受集群鱼类启发，我们展示了一种由聚苯乙烯（EPS）核/氧化石墨烯（GO）壳颗粒自组装而成的集体系统，该系统能够在阳光驱动下实现自主、高效和完全的水-溶质分离。通过利用表面张力，这些经过特殊设计的颗粒自然地聚集在一起，并作为一个系统结合起来，协同发挥作用，从甚至是饱和盐水中连续自动地使盐结晶成核、生长并输出，从而完成水-溶质分离。该系统在1个太阳光照下实现了超过90%的太阳能-蒸汽转换效率和高达0.39 kg m² h⁻¹ 的产盐率。与商业化方法相比，处理1吨饱和盐水可减少约50 kg的碳足迹。
