Qingjie Xi , Yang Yang , Xiaofen Liu , Wei Wang , Xinyu Ai , Hao Yang , Gaofeng Zhao , Yongan Yang , Meiling Wu , Kai-Ge Zhou
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Solar-powered interfacial evaporation attracts enormous attention to solve the water crisis as a low-energy consumption, high energy conversion efficiency, and environmental-friendliness technology. Balancing water transport, water content and interfacial temperature is critical to promote evaporation performance. However, fabrication methods and investigation of dedicatedly-designed structures and channel sizes for solar-powered interfacial evaporation have been rarely reported. Herein, we propose to employ vertically aligned channels with hierarchy sizes to modulate water evaporation and energy efficiency. This unique structure is fabricated by a three-step procedure including freeze-drying, ion cross-linking, and hydrogen bond reconstruction in sequence, which achieves a membrane with vertically aligned channels ranging from 1 nm to tons of micrometers. Our solar-powered distillation membrane with finely-modulated hierarchical structure exhibits a high pure water generation rate of 2.37 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun illumination. Even when treated with seawater, it can achieve a capacity of 2.34 kg m−2 h−1 (10 wt% seawater) and stabilize a high evaporation rate for at least 50 h, which is superior to most reported solar empowered distillation membranes. Our distillation membrane features a high mechanical strength and low cost, making it an appealing candidate for the actual application in desalination.
期刊介绍:
Separation and Purification Technology is a premier journal committed to sharing innovative methods for separation and purification in chemical and environmental engineering, encompassing both homogeneous solutions and heterogeneous mixtures. Our scope includes the separation and/or purification of liquids, vapors, and gases, as well as carbon capture and separation techniques. However, it's important to note that methods solely intended for analytical purposes are not within the scope of the journal. Additionally, disciplines such as soil science, polymer science, and metallurgy fall outside the purview of Separation and Purification Technology. Join us in advancing the field of separation and purification methods for sustainable solutions in chemical and environmental engineering.