Biomass hydrogels combined with carbon nanotubes for water purification via efficient and continuous solar-driven steam generation

design of new materials and supporting devices for efficient energy conversion and clean water production are essential for the practical application of solar-driven desalination and water purification. In this study, an environmentally friendly and economical biomass hydrogel-based solar evaporator with a controllable shape was developed in a simple method by integrating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into a sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel network. The evaporator had a high solar absorption rate (94.3%) and satisfactory hydrophilicity and could effectively avoid salt crystallization during the desalination process. This study took advantage of the aforementioned merits, and a high evaporation rate of 1.699 kg m-2 h-1 and a conversion efficiency of 86% were achieved under 1.0 sun irradiation. The evaporator could efficiently remove Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ from seawater with a removal rate of up to 99.3% and a good decolorization effect on methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dye wastewater, whose colour could be completely removed. This study provides a simple, practical, and economical method to prepare hydrogel-based evaporators that utilize abundant solar energy for large-scale desalination and wastewater treatment.

Automated summary

In this study, an environmentally friendly and economical solar evaporator was developed by integrating carbon nanotubes into a hydrogel network. The evaporator showed high solar absorption, good hydrophilicity, and effective prevention of salt crystallization. It achieved a high evaporation rate and removal efficiency of salt ions and dyes from seawater and wastewater.