Going beyond efficiency for solar evaporation

Xu, Ning; Li, Jinlei; Finnerty, Casey; Song, Yan; Lin, Zhifang; Zhu, Bin; Mi, Baoxia; Zhu, Jia

doi:10.1038/s44221-023-00086-5

Cited by 113 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…A mechanism focused on water clusters may provide a more reasonable explanation for efficient evaporation. [ 117 ]…”

Section: How To Design a Solar‐driven Membrane Evaporator?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Membranes in Solar‐Driven Evaporation: Design Principles and Applications

Yang

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

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Solar‐driven evaporation process brings exciting opportunities to recover clean water and resources in a sustainable way from diverse sources like seawater and wastewater. Separation membranes, as a vital material in many environmental and energy applications, can contribute significantly to this process owing to their structural features. However, the unique roles of membranes in solar evaporator construction and process design are seldom recognized and not summarized yet from scientific principles and application demands, which forms the motivation of this review. Herein, the roles of membranes in different processes based on solar‐driven evaporation are focused and the design principles of membrane materials and devices to meet the requirements of these applications are discussed. Fabrication strategies for photothermal membranes are introduced primarily, followed by a discussion on how to design membrane materials, devices, and processes to pursue optimal performance and realize advanced functions accompanied by evaporation. Furthermore, the future of this field is forecast with both challenges and opportunities.

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“…A mechanism focused on water clusters may provide a more reasonable explanation for efficient evaporation. [ 117 ]…”

Section: How To Design a Solar‐driven Membrane Evaporator?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Membranes in Solar‐Driven Evaporation: Design Principles and Applications

Yang

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

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“…[6][7][8] Unfortunately, these techniques often consume substantial energy and give rise to significant secondary pollution. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Alternatively, solar-driven water evaporation provides an environmentally sustainable solution for water remediation, extensively used in desalination, sterilization, and freshwater production. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Photothermal conversion materials play a critical role in solar-driven water evaporation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic Seawater Evaporator Based on Organic 3D Light Capture and Suspension‐Protection Mechanism for In Situ Marine Cultivation

Zhu,

Wang,

Qiu

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

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Efficient and durable seawater evaporation technologies are vital for expanding access to freshwater and developing novel irrigation systems. Here, a photothermal material termed as Y7, characterized by its fused‐ring, small‐molecule structure, and strong electron‐withdrawing end groups, is combined with an economical wood sponge. This combination is used to create a 3D solar desalination evaporator and to design a self‐circulating evaporative irrigation system. Mirroring the 3D light‐capture porous structure and underwater suspension of diatoms, this hydrophilic evaporator demonstrates efficient light absorption in the range of 300–1100 nm and excellent resistance to salt and photobleaching. With a mass of only 3 mg/3.14 cm2, the Y7‐evaporator realizes a solar‐energy‐to‐vapor conversion efficiency (η) of 91.7% and solar water evaporation rate (ṁ) of 1.62 kg m−2 h−1, marking a new record for purely organic evaporators. After the desalination process, the concentration of primary ions is reduced by five to six orders of magnitude. Based on these findings, an in situ self‐irrigation system is developed using seawater, which efficiently cultivates several plant species. The results present a novel seawater evaporation strategy rooted in enhanced photothermal effects and durability, suggesting potential applications in future self‐sustaining marine cultivation.

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“…Solar evaporation from seawater is driving a paradigm shift toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to the scarcity of fresh water in the world. , Solar interfacial evaporation (SIE) by leveraging localized heating on a porous photothermal framework − has been demonstrated to be highly efficient for desalination and wastewater decontamination. , In SIE, the photothermal layers, such as those with carbon , or metallic-based − materials, are placed far above the free surface of seawater to avoid heat loss from conduction to the bulk water. The heat from photothermal conversion is localized on the evaporation surface, leading to enhanced energy efficiency and evaporation rate. , A current challenge is to avoid the negative impact of salt crystallization on the long-term high evaporation rate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Morphology and Distribution of Salt Crystals on a Photothermal Layer during Solar Interfacial Evaporation

Zeng,

Kumar,

et al. 2023

Langmuir

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Solar interfacial evaporation (SIE) by leveraging photothermal conversion could be a clean and sustainable solution to the scarcity of fresh water, decontamination of wastewater, and steam sterilization. However, the process of salt crystallization on photothermal materials used in SIE, especially from saltwater evaporation, has not been completely understood. We report the temporal and spatial evolution of salt crystals on the photothermal layer during SIE. By using a typical oil lamp evaporator, we found that salt crystallization always initiates from the edge of the evaporation surface of the photothermal layer due to the local fast flux of the vapor to the surroundings. Interestingly, the salt crystals exhibit either compact or loose morphology, depending on the location and evaporation duration. By employing a suite of complementary analytical techniques of Raman and infrared spectroscopy and temperature mapping, we followed the evolution and spatial distribution of salt crystals, interfacial water, and surface temperature during evaporation. Our results suggested that the compact crystal structure may emerge from the recrystallization of salt in an initially porous structure, driven by continuous water evaporation from the porous and loose crystals. The holistic view provided in this study may lay the foundation for effective strategies for mitigation of the negative impact of salt crystallization in solar evaporation.

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Going beyond efficiency for solar evaporation

Cited by 113 publications

References 114 publications

Membranes in Solar‐Driven Evaporation: Design Principles and Applications

Membranes in Solar‐Driven Evaporation: Design Principles and Applications

Biomimetic Seawater Evaporator Based on Organic 3D Light Capture and Suspension‐Protection Mechanism for In Situ Marine Cultivation

Evolution of Morphology and Distribution of Salt Crystals on a Photothermal Layer during Solar Interfacial Evaporation

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