Li Zhenzhen, Yu Lingjie, Ma Haodong, Chen Jianglong, Meng Jiaguang, Wang Yongzhen, Liu Yaming, Song Qingwen, Dong Zijing, Miao Menghe, Li Bo, Zhi Chao
Key Laboratory of Functional Textile Material and Product, Ministry of Education, Xi'an Polytechnic University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710048, China; School of Textile Science and Engineering, Xi'an Polytechnic University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710048, China.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 10;903:166212. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166212. Epub 2023 Aug 9.
Interfacial solar evaporators are widely used to purify water. However, photothermal materials commonly constituting most interfacial solar evaporators remain expensive; additionally, the inherent structure of the evaporators limits their performance. Furthermore, the large amount of waste cotton produced by the textile industry is an environmental threat. To address these issues, we propose an interfacial solar evaporator, H-CA-CS, with a hierarchical porous structure. This evaporator is made entirely of waste cotton and uses carbon microspheres (CMS) and cellulose aerogel (CA) as photothermal and substrate materials, respectively. Additionally, its photothermal layer (CS layer) has large pores and a high porosity, which promote light absorption and timely vapor escape. In contrast, the water transport layer (CA layer) has small pores, providing a robust capillary effect for water transport. Combined with the outstanding light absorption properties of CMS, H-CA-CS exhibited superior overall performance. We found that H-CA-CS has an excellent evaporation rate (1.68 kg m h) and an efficiency of 90.6 % under one solar illumination (1 kW m), which are superior to those of many waste-based solar evaporators. Moreover, H-CA-CS maintained a mean evaporation rate of 1.61 kg m h, ensuring sustainable evaporation performance under long-term scenarios. Additionally, H-CA-CS can be used to purify seawater and various types of wastewater with removal efficiencies exceeding 99 %. In conclusion, this study proposes a method for efficiently using waste cotton to purify water and provides novel ideas for the high-value use of other waste fibers to further mitigate ongoing environmental degradation.
界面太阳能蒸发器被广泛用于水净化。然而，构成大多数界面太阳能蒸发器的光热材料仍然昂贵；此外，蒸发器的固有结构限制了它们的性能。此外，纺织工业产生的大量废棉对环境构成威胁。为了解决这些问题，我们提出了一种具有分级多孔结构的界面太阳能蒸发器H-CA-CS。这种蒸发器完全由废棉制成，分别使用碳微球（CMS）和纤维素气凝胶（CA）作为光热材料和基底材料。此外，其光热层（CS层）具有大孔和高孔隙率，这促进了光吸收和及时的蒸汽逸出。相比之下，水传输层（CA层）具有小孔，为水传输提供了强大的毛细作用。结合CMS出色的光吸收性能，H-CA-CS表现出卓越的整体性能。我们发现，H-CA-CS在一个太阳光照（1 kW m）下具有出色的蒸发速率（1.68 kg m h）和90.6%的效率，优于许多基于废物的太阳能蒸发器。此外，H-CA-CS保持平均蒸发速率为1.61 kg m h，确保了长期情况下的可持续蒸发性能。此外，H-CA-CS可用于净化海水和各种类型的废水，去除效率超过99%。总之，本研究提出了一种有效利用废棉净化水的方法，并为其他废纤维的高价值利用提供了新思路，以进一步减轻持续的环境退化。
