Journal ArticleDOI
A facile nanocomposite strategy to fabricate a rGO–MWCNT photothermal layer for efficient water evaporation
TLDR
In this article, a facile but effective approach to improve the photothermal performance by combining 2D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and 1D multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which have different nanomorphologies.Abstract:
Solar-driven water evaporation assisted by photothermal membranes is considered as one of the sustainable and cost-effective strategies for pure water generation and wastewater treatment. Herein, we report a facile but effective approach to improve the photothermal performance by combining 2D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and 1D multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which have different nanomorphologies. The photothermal layer can be easily deposited on different substrate materials via simple vacuum assistance. Such a composite photothermal layer shows a rough surface with a controllable nano-structure, which can thus optimize solar light harvesting. On the other hand, the formation of a loose internal porous structure and suitable wettability ensure water transport inside the photothermal layer during evaporation. The surface temperature reaches as high as 78 °C even under one sun irradiation (1 kW m−2), which is 10 °C higher than the result of pure rGO membranes. When loaded on a PVDF substrate, the rGO–MWCNT based membrane is flexible and shows an obvious improvement in the evaporation rate, about 79.0% and 8.9% higher than those of pure rGO and MWCNT membranes, respectively. The solar thermal conversion efficiency can reach up to 80.4% without any extra accessory for thermal management. Based on our results, the nanocomposite strategy is facile and effective for the development of novel photothermal membranes for high-efficiency evaporation, and contributes to the widespread application in the fields of desalination and wastewater treatment.read more
Citations
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Solar absorber material and system designs for photothermal water vaporization towards clean water and energy production
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive review on the current development in efficient photothermal evaporation, and suggest directions to further enhance its overall efficiency through the judicious choice of materials and system designs, while synchronously capitalizing waste energy to realize concurrent clean water and energy production.
Journal ArticleDOI
Improved light-harvesting and thermal management for efficient solar-driven water evaporation using 3D photothermal cones
Yuchao Wang,Canzhu Wang,Canzhu Wang,Xiangju Song,Minghua Huang,Suresh Kumar Megarajan,S.F. Shaukat,Heqing Jiang +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, an extensive research was carried out to develop a bio-inspired 3D photothermal cone for high efficiency solar-driven evaporation with minimum light reflection and heat loss to bulk water.
Journal ArticleDOI
Emerging investigator series: the rise of nano-enabled photothermal materials for water evaporation and clean water production by sunlight
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the impressive developments in photothermal nanomaterial discovery, selection, optimization, and photothermal structural designs along with their applications especially in clean water production is presented.
Journal ArticleDOI
Scalable, eco-friendly and ultrafast solar steam generators based on one-step melamine-derived carbon sponges toward water purification
Feng Gong,Hao Li,Wenbin Wang,Jigang Huang,Dawei Xia,Dawei Xia,Jiaxuan Liao,Mengqiang Wu,Dimitrios V. Papavassiliou +8 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate a facile, scalable and low-cost approach to produce highly-efficient solar steam generator via a one-step calcination of commercial melamine sponges (MS) in air.
Journal ArticleDOI
Recent advances and challenges for solar-driven water evaporation system toward applications
TL;DR: In this paper, advances in the recent development of photothermal materials, design of structures and engineering strategies which include the design principles for high-efficiency light-to-heat conversion, optimization of thermal management, transporting water, interface wettability, salt rejection, and hybrid systems for improving evaporation rate are carefully reviewed.
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