Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia; Energy Materials & Devices, Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), Naju, Republic of Korea.
Chemosphere. 2022 Jul;299:134394. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134394. Epub 2022 Mar 21.
Interfacial solar water evaporation has attracted tremendous attention for sunlight harvesting for water purification. However, salt formation and stability of the photothermal materials (PTMs) remain a challenge that need addressing before bringing this technology to real-world applications. In this work, a nanoscale thin film of gold (Au) on a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane has been prepared using a magnetic sputtering technique. The fabricated membrane displays a robust mechanical strength and chemical stability arising from the adhesiveness of the thin film Au nanolayer on the PTFE membrane as well as the chemical inertness of the noble metal PTM. The Au nanolayer/PTFE membrane with cellulose sponge substrate resulted in an evaporation rate of 0.88 kg m h under 1 sun intensity. Remarkable salt ion rejection of 99.9% has been obtained, meeting the required standard for drinking water. Moreover, the membrane exhibited excellent stability and reusability in natural seawater and high salinity brine (150 g/L) and even in severe conditions (acidic, basic, and oxidized). No noticeable salt formation was observed on the evaporator surface after the tests. These findings reveal promising prospects for using a magnetron sputtering technique to fabricate a stable photothermal membrane for seawater and high salinity brine desalination.
界面太阳能蒸发因其在水净化方面的太阳光收集能力而受到极大关注。然而，盐的形成和光热材料（PTMs）的稳定性是在将这项技术应用于实际应用之前需要解决的挑战。在这项工作中，使用磁控溅射技术在聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）膜上制备了金（Au）纳米薄膜。所制备的膜具有强大的机械强度和化学稳定性，这是由于薄膜 Au 纳米层在 PTFE 膜上的附着力以及贵金属 PTM 的化学惰性所致。具有纤维素海绵基底的 Au 纳米层/PTFE 膜在 1 个太阳强度下的蒸发速率为 0.88 kg m h。已经获得了 99.9%的显著盐离子排斥率，达到了饮用水的要求标准。此外，该膜在天然海水和高盐度盐水（150 g/L）甚至在恶劣条件（酸性、碱性和氧化）下表现出出色的稳定性和可重复使用性。在测试后，蒸发器表面没有观察到明显的盐形成。这些发现为使用磁控溅射技术制造用于海水和高盐度盐水淡化的稳定光热膜提供了有前景的思路。
