Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 13, Issue 23, Pages 26879-26890Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c02586
Keywords
water evaporation; super-absorbent polymer; light-to-heat conversion efficiency; density functional theory; photothermal film
Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China [YQ2020B004, JJ2020TD0027]
- Excellent Scientific Research Team Project of Harbin Normal University [XKYT202001]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [52072100, 21771046]
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A highly efficient solar-driven water evaporation system was developed using Co-Sn alloy-deposited Teflon film and super-absorbent polymers, achieving high light-to-heat conversion efficiency and improved efficiency through optimized water pump design.
Solar-driven water evaporation is a promising solution to water pollution, the energy crisis, and water shortages. However, the approach in which the photothermal film is in direct contact with bulk water for water evaporation may lead to a large amount of heat loss, thereby reducing the light-to-heat conversion efficiency (eta) of the photothermal film. Here, a highly efficient solar-driven water evaporation system was developed using a Co-Sn alloy-deposited Teflon (PTFE) film (Co-Sn alloy@PTFE) and super-absorbent polymers (SAPs) supported with a floating foam substrate. The Co-Sn alloy with full-spectrum (200-2500 nm) absorption characteristics is devoted to high light-to-heat conversion, while the porous PTFE with high mechanical performance can support the Co-Sn alloy. We used density functional theory to prove that the Co-Sn alloy had a strong adhesive force with PTFE without surfactants due to the high adsorption energy between the (101) crystal plane of the Co-Sn alloy and the hydroxyl group on the PTFE film. Importantly, via the SAP-based water pump design, we improved the eta of the Co-Sn alloy@PTFE film to 89%, mainly because the SAP not only effectively performed water transportation but also markedly reduced the heat loss of the Co-Sn alloy@PTFE film. Our work highlights the strong potential of Co-Sn alloy@PTFE-based light-to-heat conversion systems for realizing highly effective solar energy-driven water evaporation.
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