Jia Linhui, Liu Zhongxin, Hao Hongxun, Zhang Mingxin, Tian Xinlong, Huang Wei
School of Marine Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, P. R. China.
Nano Lett. 2024 Feb 7;24(5):1753-1760. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c04646. Epub 2024 Jan 29.
Polymer based low evaporation enthalpy materials have become a universal selection for improving the efficiency of solar steam generation. Although water cluster and intermediate water mechanisms have been proposed to explain the low evaporation enthalpy, the production process and microstructure of activated water are still unclear. Here, crystal plane engineering is used to investigate the intermediate water state and the water cluster activation mechanism. The unique open-closed coordination structure on the optimized crystal surface promotes the generation of firm water clusters by optimizing the intermediate water state. Under the similar solar energy absorption of all materials, crystal plane engineering increased the solar steam generation rate of the evaporator by 31.2% and increased the energy efficiency to 94.8%. Exploring the micro-evaporation process and activated water structure is expected to stimulate the development of the next generation low evaporation enthalpy materials.
