Boosting solar steam generation in dynamically tunable polymer porous architectures

Interfacial solar steam generation is a water treatment strategy without liquid waste discharge that minimizes the environmental impact of wastewater. For practical applications especially large scale applications on the sea with harsh environment, excellent mechanical strength and economic manufacturability of the evaporator is essential. Herein, we choose a straightforward, scalable and controllable polymer processing method to manufacture porous poly(ethylene-co-octene) elastomers (pPOE). The pore sizes and porous structure of pPOE are dynamically controlled by annealing treatment. For the bottom-up evaporation device, the water transport capacity substantially influences the evaporation performance. With the aid of finite volume simulation, the adjustable porous POE elastomers with different water transport capabilities are used to analyze the effect of water transport on evaporation performance, and the porous POE elastomer with optimal pore size is preferably used for steam generation. This POE-based evaporator with suitable water supply capacity exhibits excellent evaporation performance and outstanding mechanical strength, showing great potential to achieve low-cost sustainable seawater desalination and wastewater purification.

Automated summary

The study uses porous polymer elastomers to manufacture evaporators, with the pore size and porous structure dynamically controlled through annealing treatment to enhance evaporation performance and mechanical strength. This approach shows great potential for achieving low-cost sustainable seawater desalination and wastewater purification.