Peng Wanli, Wang Jie, Shi Yilin, Wang Jie, Cai Zaisheng
National Engineering Research Center for Dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2025 Jul 30;17(30):43740-43749. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c10916. Epub 2025 Jul 21.
Freshwater scarcity and microplastic (MP) pollution are two pressing challenges that urgently demand solutions. Integrating solar-driven interfacial evaporation with MP adsorption provides an effective approach for seawater purification. In this work, we fabricated a dual-functional synergistic solar evaporator. This system simultaneously achieves MP adsorption and seawater desalination, overcoming the single-functional water treatment objective of traditional evaporators to establish a composite water purification system. This work assembled PEI-coated viscose fibers, hydrophilic cotton fabric, and a PTFE photothermal layer through sewing techniques. The resulting evaporator features a hydrophobic top layer and a bottom layer that is capable of supplying water and adsorbing MPs. Under 1 kW m irradiation, the evaporator achieved an evaporation rate of 2.18 kg·m·h while demonstrating good long-term stability in saline water. Additionally, it exhibits 99.20% adsorption efficiency for low-concentration MPs in water. Notably, the condensate produced by the evaporator contains no MPs due to the double-layer structure separating the adsorption unit and the photothermal component. Therefore, the designed evaporator demonstrates promising potential not only to alleviate freshwater scarcity but also to effectively remove MPs from aquatic environments.
淡水短缺和微塑料（MP）污染是两个迫切需要解决的紧迫挑战。将太阳能驱动的界面蒸发与MP吸附相结合为海水净化提供了一种有效方法。在这项工作中，我们制造了一种双功能协同太阳能蒸发器。该系统同时实现了MP吸附和海水淡化，克服了传统蒸发器单一功能的水处理目标，建立了一个复合水净化系统。这项工作通过缝纫技术组装了聚乙烯亚胺（PEI）涂层的粘胶纤维、亲水性棉织物和聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）光热层。所得蒸发器具有疏水顶层和能够供水并吸附MP的底层。在1 kW·m的辐照下，该蒸发器实现了2.18 kg·m²·h的蒸发速率，同时在盐水中表现出良好的长期稳定性。此外，它对水中低浓度MP的吸附效率达99.20%。值得注意的是，由于双层结构将吸附单元和光热组件分隔开，蒸发器产生的冷凝水中不含MP。因此，所设计的蒸发器不仅在缓解淡水短缺方面显示出有前景的潜力，而且能有效地从水生环境中去除MP。
