Abstract:
Solar-driven evaporation is a promising technology for desalinating seawater and wastewater without mechanical or electrical energy. The approaches to obtaining fresh water with higher evaporation efficiency are essential to address the water-scarcity issue in remote sensing areas. Herein, we report a highly efficient solar evaporator derived from the nanocomposite of anatase TiO2/activated carbon (TiO2/AC), which was coated on washable cotton fabric using the dip-dry technique for solar water evaporation. The ultra-black fabric offers enhanced solar absorption (93.03%), hydrophilic water transport, and an efficient evaporation rate of 1.65 kg/m2h under 1 kW m-2 or one sun solar intensity. More importantly, the sideways water channels and centralized thermal insulation of the designed TiO2/AC solar evaporator accumulated photothermal heat at the liquid and air interface along with an enhanced surface temperature of 40.98 °C under one sun. The fabricated solar evaporator desalinated seawater (3.5 wt%) without affecting the evaporation rates, and the collected condensed water met the standard of drinking water set by the World Health Organization (WHO). This approach eventually enabled the engineering design groups to develop the technology pathways as well as optimum conditions for low-cost, scalable, efficient, and sustainable solar-driven steam generators to cope with global water scarcity.
摘要:
太阳能蒸发是一种在没有机械能或电能的情况下淡化海水和废水的有前途的技术。以更高的蒸发效率获得淡水的方法对于解决遥感地区的缺水问题至关重要。在这里,我们报道了一种来自锐钛矿TiO2/活性炭(TiO2/AC)纳米复合材料的高效太阳能蒸发器,使用浸干技术将其涂覆在可洗的棉织物上,以进行太阳能水蒸发。超黑色织物提供增强的太阳能吸收(93.03%),亲水的水传输,在1kWm-2或一个太阳强度下,有效蒸发率为1.65kg/m2h。更重要的是,设计的TiO2/AC太阳能蒸发器的侧向水通道和集中式隔热材料在液体和空气界面处积聚了光热,并且在一个阳光下的表面温度提高了40.98°C。制造的太阳能蒸发器淡化海水(3.5wt%)不影响蒸发率,收集的冷凝水符合世界卫生组织(WHO)规定的饮用水标准。这种方法最终使工程设计小组能够开发技术途径以及低成本的最佳条件,可扩展,高效,和可持续的太阳能驱动的蒸汽发生器,以应对全球水资源短缺。