Lei Chuxin, Guan Weixin, Guo Youhong, Shi Wen, Wang Yuyang, Johnston Keith P, Yu Guihua
Materials Science and Engineering Program and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022 Sep 5;61(36):e202208487. doi: 10.1002/anie.202208487. Epub 2022 Aug 1.
Interfacial solar vapor generation (SVG) is regarded as a promising and sustainable strategy for clean water production. While many materials have demonstrated excellent evaporation rates under one sun, it remains challenging to design solar evaporators without compromising SVG performance in high-salinity brines (≥10 wt %). Herein, polyzwitterionic hydrogels (PZHs) are proposed as a novel platform for high-salinity solar desalination. Taking advantage of the unique anti-polyelectrolyte effects, PZHs can trap salt ions from the brine water to form a more hydrated polymer network, leading to enhanced SVG performance. PZHs exhibit an exceptional solar evaporation rate of 4.14 kg m h in 10 wt % brine, which is ≈20 % higher than that in pure water. It is anticipated that salt-responsive PZHs may provide insights for the design of next-generation solar desalination systems.
界面太阳能蒸汽产生（SVG）被视为一种有前景的可持续清洁水生产策略。虽然许多材料在一个太阳辐射强度下展现出了优异的蒸发速率，但设计在高盐度盐水（≥10 wt %）中不影响SVG性能的太阳能蒸发器仍然具有挑战性。在此，聚两性离子水凝胶（PZHs）被提出作为高盐度太阳能海水淡化的新型平台。利用独特的抗聚电解质效应，PZHs可以从盐水中捕获盐离子，形成更具水合性的聚合物网络，从而提高SVG性能。PZHs在10 wt %的盐水中展现出4.14 kg m h的优异太阳能蒸发速率，比在纯水中高出约20 %。预计对盐有响应的PZHs可为下一代太阳能海水淡化系统的设计提供思路。
