Carbon monoliths from PET wastes for interfacial solar evaporation

Solar water evaporation systems based on carbon are emerging technologies for water desalination. In this work, carbon monoliths were obtained from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) wastes. Two different carbon monolith samples were obtained by varying the carbonization parameters. The carbon monoliths have a high solar absorptance due to its porous structure and offers a vapor transport, which facilitate a fast evaporation. The carbon monoliths had different thickness, those ones with 8 mm in thickness presented an enhanced water evaporation rate of 0.99 kg/m(2)h with a solar evaporation efficiency of 63.5%. Here we show that carbon monoliths obtained from PET wastes are promising materials for interfacial solar evaporation systems. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Carbon monoliths obtained from PET wastes are promising materials for interfacial solar evaporation systems due to their porous structure, high solar absorptance, and fast evaporation rate.