Journal
NANO LETTERS
Volume 19, Issue 4, Pages 2530-2536Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00252
Keywords
Solar vapor generation; desalination; hydrogel; surface topography; water purification
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Funding
- Lockheed Martin Corp.
- Sloan Research Fellowship
- Camille-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
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Solar vapor generation, which can separate the soluble or dispersing contaminants from water, is particularly desirable owing to its green energy utilization for water purification technology. Here, we present a concept of enhancing solar vapor generation by tailoring surface topography of the hydrogel-based solar evaporator. Via nanotexture-enhanced heat flux at the evaporation front, the obtained solar evaporator achieves a water evaporation rate of similar to 2.6 kg m(-2) h(-1) at similar to 91% energy efficiency under one sun (1 kW m(-2)). An easy-to-install solar still based on this solar evaporator consisting of cost-effective poly(vinyl alcohol) and activated carbon is deployed to demonstrate the potential for domestic or urgent water purification purposes. Such new design principles of hydrogel-based solar evaporators provides a useful means for surface-enhanced water evaporation to inspire scalable and processable solar evaporators from accessible raw materials.
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