Interfacial solar steam generation is an efficient water evaporation technology which has promising applications in desalination, sterilization, water purification and treatment. A common component of evaporator design is a thermal-insulation support placed between the photothermal evaporation surface and bulk water. This configuration, common in 2-dimensional (2D) evaporation systems, minimizes heat loss from evaporation surface to bulk water, thus localizing the heat on the evaporation surface for efficient evaporation. This design is subsequently directly adopted for 3-dimensional (3D) evaporators without any consideration if it is appropriate. However, unlike 2D solar evaporators, the 3D evaporators can also harvest additional energy (other than solar light) from the air and bulk water to enhance evaporation rate. In this scenario, the use of thermal insulator support is not proper since it will hinder energy extraction from water. Here, the traditional 3D evaporator configuration was completely redesigned by using a highly thermally conductive material, instead of a thermal insulator, to connect evaporation surfaces and the bulk water. Much higher evaporation rates were achieved by this strategy, owing to the rapid heat transfer from the bulk water to the evaporation surfaces. Indoor and outdoor tests both confirmed that evaporation performance could be significantly improved by substituting a thermal insulator with thermally conductive support. These findings will redirect the future design of 3D photothermal evaporators.

Enhancing solar steam generation using a highly thermally conductive evaporator support

Design and Performance Boost of a MOF-Functionalized-Wood Solar Evaporator through Tuning the Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions

Efficient removal of emerging organic contaminants via photo-Fenton process over micron-sized Fe-MOF sheet

Nanoarchitectonics from 2D to 3D: MXenes-derived nitrogen-doped 3D nanofibrous architecture for extraordinarily-fast capacitive deionization

Alternative water resources (seawater, brackish water, atmospheric water, sewage, etc.) can be converted into clean freshwater via high-efficiency, energy-saving, and cost-effective methods to cope with the global water crisis. Herein, we provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of various solar-powered technologies for alternative water utilization (i.e., "sunlight-energy-water nexus"), including solar-thermal interface desalination (STID), solar-thermal membrane desalination (STMD), solar-driven electrochemical desalination (SED), and solar-thermal atmospheric water harvesting (ST-AWH). Three strategies have been proposed for improving the evaporation rate of STID systems above the theoretical limit and designing all-weather or all-day operating STID systems by analyzing the energy transfer of the evaporation and condensation processes caused by solar-thermal conversion. This review also introduces the fundamental principles and current research hotspots of two other solar-driven seawater or brackish water desalination technologies (STMD and SED) in detail. In addition, we also cover ST-AWH and other solar-powered technologies in terms of technology design, materials evolution, device assembly, etc. Finally, we summarize the content of this comprehensive review and discuss the challenges and future outlook of different types of solar-powered alternative water utilization technologies.

Solar-Powered Sustainable Water Production: State-of-the-Art Technologies for Sunlight-Energy-Water Nexus.

Nitrogenization of porous carbon provides an effective methodology to promote capacitive deionization (CDI) performance. Exploring a new class of nitrogen-doped porous carbons from waste biomass ov...

Nitrogenization of Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon Microtubes Promotes Capacitive Deionization Performance

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising electrochemical water treatment technology. Development of new electrode materials with higher performance is key to improve the desalination efficiency of CDI. Carbon nanomaterials derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted wide attention for their porous nanostructures and large specific surface areas. The desalination capacity and cycling stability of MOF-derived carbons (MOFCs) have been greatly improved by means of morphology control, heteroatom doping, Faradaic material modification, etc. Despite progress has been made to improve their CDI performance, quite a lot of MOFCs are too costly to be applied in a large scale. It remains crucial to develop MOFCs with both high desalination efficiency and low cost. In this review, we summarized three modification methods of MOFCs, namely morphology control, heteroatom doping, and Faradaic material doping, and put forward some constructive advice on how to enhance the desalination performance of MOFCs effectively at a low cost. We hope that more efforts could be devoted to the industrialization of MOFCs for CDI.

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Xinran Sheng

Papers

Solar-Powered Sustainable Water Production: State-of-the-Art Technologies for Sunlight-Energy-Water Nexus.

Nitrogenization of Biomass-Derived Porous Carbon Microtubes Promotes Capacitive Deionization Performance

Modification of Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Nanocarbons for Enhanced Capacitive Deionization Performance: A Mini-Review.