Wilson Higgins M, Wani Tawseef A, Lee Sang J
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang Gyeongbuk 37673, The Republic of Korea.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang Gyeongbuk 37673, The Republic of Korea.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Dec 18;16(50):69450-69458. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c17002. Epub 2024 Dec 4.
Interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) technology provides a promising solution to the global issue of freshwater scarcity. However, its practical application is hindered by salt fouling and inconsistent solar illumination. In this work, a novel interfacial solar steam generator is proposed that integrates contactless design with low-voltage joule heating to provide all-day, all-weather freshwater generation. The contactless design utilizes a solar-reduced graphene oxide coated carbon fabric (SRGO-CF) as a heat generator and super hydrophilic paper walls as water transport channels. The contactless device can generate steam at the maximum rate of 4.27 kg m h under 1 sun solar illumination and small input voltage due to the excellent photothermal and electrothermal capabilities of SRGO-CF. At an input voltage of 2.5 V, the SRGO-CF evaporator exhibits an evaporation rate of 3.52 kg m h and 2.32 kg m h for 3.5 wt % salt water respectively with and without 1 sun illumination for a long period of time without any salt fouling, demonstrating its all-day, all-weather capability. The proposed contactless ISSG evaporator can resolve the impractical issue of conventional ISSG-based evaporators owing to irregular weather conditions and salt fouling issues while also promoting zero liquid discharge-based salt harvesting.
界面太阳能蒸汽发生（ISSG）技术为全球淡水短缺问题提供了一个有前景的解决方案。然而，其实际应用受到盐污染和太阳能光照不一致的阻碍。在这项工作中，提出了一种新型的界面太阳能蒸汽发生器，它将非接触式设计与低压焦耳加热相结合，以实现全天候的淡水生成。非接触式设计采用涂覆有太阳能还原氧化石墨烯的碳纤维（SRGO-CF）作为发热体，超亲水纸壁作为水传输通道。由于SRGO-CF具有优异的光热和电热性能，该非接触式装置在1个太阳光照强度和小输入电压下能够以最高4.27 kg m⁻² h⁻¹的速率产生蒸汽。在输入电压为2.5 V时，SRGO-CF蒸发器在有和没有1个太阳光照的情况下，对于3.5 wt%的盐水分别表现出3.52 kg m⁻² h⁻¹和2.32 kg m⁻² h⁻¹的蒸发速率，并且在长时间运行过程中没有任何盐污染，证明了其全天候的能力。所提出的非接触式ISSG蒸发器能够解决传统基于ISSG的蒸发器由于天气条件不规则和盐污染问题而产生的不实用问题，同时还能促进基于零液体排放的盐收获。
