In situ Reduction of Silver Nanoparticles on Chitosan Hybrid Copper Phosphate Nanoflowers for Highly Efficient Plasmonic Solar-driven Interfacial Water Evaporation

AbstractThe development of water purification device using solar energy has received tremendous attention. Despite extensive progress, traditional photothermal conversion usually has a high cost and high environmental impact. To overcome this problem, we develop a low cost, durable and environmentally friendly solar evaporator. This bi-layered evaporator is constructed with a thermal insulating polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane as a bottom supporting layer and plasmonic silver nanoparticles decorated micro-sized hybrid flower (Ag/MF) as a top light-to-heat conversion layer. Compared with the sample with a flat silver film, the two-tier Ag/MF has a plasmonic enrichment property and high efficiency in converting the solar light to heat as each flower can generate a microscale hotspot by enriching the absorbed solar light. On the other hand, the PVDF membrane on the bottom with porous structure not only improves the mechanical stability of the entire structure, but also maintains a stable water supply from the bulk water to the evaporation interface by capillarity and minimizes the thermal conduction. The combination of excellent water evaporation ability, simple operation, and low cost of the production process imparts this type of plasmonic enhanced solar-driven interfacial water evaporator with promising prospects for potable water purification for point-of-use applications.

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Titanium Nitride Nanodonuts Synthesized from Natural Ilmenite Ore as a Novel and Efficient Thermoplasmonic Material

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11010076 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 76

Author(s):

Thanh-Lieu Thi Le ◽

Lam Tan Nguyen ◽

Hoai-Hue Nguyen ◽

Nguyen Van Nghia ◽

Nguyen Minh Vuong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Titanium Nitride ◽

Low Cost ◽

Visible Region ◽

Resonance Absorption ◽

Solar Light ◽

Localized Surface Plasmon ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Energy Applications ◽

Simulated Solar Light ◽

New Class

Nanostructures of titanium nitride (TiN) have recently been considered as a new class of plasmonic materials that have been utilized in many solar energy applications. This work presents the synthesis of a novel nanostructure of TiN that has a nanodonut shape from natural ilmenite ore using a low-cost and bulk method. The TiN nanodonuts exhibit strong and spectrally broad localized surface plasmon resonance absorption in the visible region centered at 560 nm, which is well suited for thermoplasmonic applications as a nanoscale heat source. The heat generation is investigated by water evaporation experiments under simulated solar light, demonstrating excellent solar light harvesting performance of the nanodonut structure.

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Ti3C2/PVDF membrane for efficient seawater desalination based on interfacial solar heating

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2020.298 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Huan Peng ◽

Kehang Zhu ◽

Chenxing Li ◽

Yangyi Xiao ◽

Miaomiao Ye

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Polyvinylidene Fluoride ◽

Evaporation Rate ◽

Pure Water ◽

Solar Heating ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Seawater Desalination ◽

Limit Values ◽

Pvdf Membrane ◽

Us Epa

Abstract Photothermal material of Ti3C2 has been synthesized by etching Ti3AlC2 with hydrofluoric acid. The as-prepared Ti3C2 was deposited on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane via vacuum filtration to form Ti3C2/PVDF membrane, which was used for seawater desalination in the next step based on interfacial solar heating. The water evaporation rate of the Ti3C2/PVDF membrane could be enhanced to 0.98 kg/m2·h under 2 sun irradiance, which was 2.8 times and 5.4 times higher than that of pure water (0.35 kg/m2·h) and PVDF (0.18 kg/m2·h) respectively. The temperature difference between the two air–water interfaces with and without the Ti3C2/PVDF membrane was as high as 11.8 °C, confirming the interfacial heating behavior. The water evaporation rate under 2 sun irradiance almost kept in the range of 0.96–0.86 kg/m2·h over 30 days under continuous operation, indicating the high stability of the Ti3C2/PVDF membrane. Finally, it was demonstrated that the typical water-quality indexes of the condensed fresh water was below the limit values of the Standards for Drinking Water Quality in China, WHO, and US EPA.

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Facile preparation of a robust porous photothermal membrane with antibacterial activity for efficient solar-driven interfacial water evaporation

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/c8ta09223k ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 704-710 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Yaling Li ◽

Xuexue Cui ◽

Mingyu Zhao ◽

Yunshi Xu ◽

Leilei Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antibacterial Activity ◽

Mechanical Stability ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Interfacial Water ◽

Facile Preparation

A self-floating photothermal membrane with simultaneous mechanical stability and antibacterial activity is facilely prepared for efficient solar-driven interfacial water evaporation.

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Self-floating maize straw/graphene aerogel synthesis based on microbubble and ice crystal templates for efficient solar-driven interfacial water evaporation

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/d0ta07576k ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (46) ◽

pp. 24734-24742

Author(s):

Yan Kong ◽

Hongbing Dan ◽

Wenjia Kong ◽

Yue Gao ◽

Yanan Shang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Purification ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Interfacial Water ◽

Ice Crystal ◽

Graphene Aerogel ◽

Maize Straw ◽

Promising Solution

Water purification via the solar-driven evaporation of water is a promising solution to alleviate water crises.

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Surface Modification To Alleviate PVDF Membrane Fouling During Milk Protein Microfiltration

10.32920/ryerson.14656182 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diba Mirriahi

Keyword(s):

Contact Angle ◽

Surface Modification ◽

Mechanical Strength ◽

Membrane Fouling ◽

Polyvinylidene Fluoride ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Serum Proteins ◽

Membrane Surface ◽

Pvdf Membrane ◽

Aqueous Treatment

The interest in using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane in order to separate casein and serum proteins has been raised due to its significant stability. However, the high hydrophobicity of PVDF membrane causes severe fouling during filtration processes. Ozonation, a surface modification process in which polar groups would be formed on the membrane surface, is widely known for its high efficiency. In the present study, the main objective was to optimize the ozonation parameters to reach the minimum fouling while the maximum mechanical strength could be retained. The contact angle of a water droplet on the membrane surface decreased from 73.5° to 50.4° after the treatment of the membrane at the optimal gaseous phase ozonation. This indicates an increase in the hydrophilicity of the treated membrane. Also, filtration performance demonstrated a lower fouling occurrence on the treated membrane as compared to the untreated one. Although gaseous ozonation yielded a slightly better performance in comparison to the aqueous treatment, the membrane treated with aqueous phase ozonation was benefited from conserving its mechanical strength. Activated carbon helped decreasing the contact angle and fouling as compared to the non-catalytic aqueous treatment while the tensile strength was not affected

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Surface Modification To Alleviate PVDF Membrane Fouling During Milk Protein Microfiltration

10.32920/ryerson.14656182.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diba Mirriahi

Keyword(s):

Contact Angle ◽

Surface Modification ◽

Mechanical Strength ◽

Membrane Fouling ◽

Polyvinylidene Fluoride ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Serum Proteins ◽

Membrane Surface ◽

Pvdf Membrane ◽

Aqueous Treatment

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Iron Based Chitin Composite Films for Efficient Solar Seawater Desalination

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr9071126 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 1126

Author(s):

Rumeng Zhang ◽

Xin Li ◽

Haiquan Xie ◽

Lunguang Yao ◽

Liqun Ye

Keyword(s):

Fresh Water ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Low Cost ◽

Composite Films ◽

World Health ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Seawater Desalination ◽

Solar Absorbers ◽

Hierarchical Pore ◽

Health Organization

Seawater desalination provides a convenient method for the sustainable production of fresh water. However, the preparation of low-cost, high-efficiency solar absorbers remains a huge challenge. To this end, our research group designed and produced a cheap absorber—a membrane made of natural polymer chitin with black FeS and Fe3O4, respectively. Due to the hierarchical pore structure, excellent photothermal performance and good hydrophilicity of the film, their water evaporation rates reached 1.47 kg/m2/h and 1.55 kg/m2/h under one sunlight, respectively. Under about 10 suns, the highest desalination efficiency of FeS/chitin and Fe3O4/chitin are 90% and 74%, respectively, and their salinities are also in line with the World Health Organization drinking water standards. These results indicate the potential of chitin-based nanomaterials as high-efficiency solar absorbers to produce fresh water.

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Influence of MBE Growth Conditions on Dislocation Densities of GaAs/Ge Epilayers Grown on Silicon Substrates

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100118692 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 364-365

Author(s):

K.M. Hones ◽

P. Sheldon ◽

B.G. Yacobi ◽

A. Mason

Keyword(s):

High Efficiency ◽

Lattice Mismatch ◽

Low Cost ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Nonradiative Recombination ◽

Device Structure ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Dislocation Densities ◽

Dislocation Type

There is increasing interest in growing epitaxial GaAs on Si substrates. Such a device structure would allow low-cost substrates to be used for high-efficiency cascade- junction solar cells. However, high-defect densities may result from the large lattice mismatch (∼4%) between the GaAs epilayer and the silicon substrate. These defects can act as nonradiative recombination centers that can degrade the optical and electrical properties of the epitaxially grown GaAs. For this reason, it is important to optimize epilayer growth conditions in order to minimize resulting dislocation densities. The purpose of this paper is to provide an indication of the quality of the epitaxially grown GaAs layers by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to examine dislocation type and density as a function of various growth conditions. In this study an intermediate Ge layer was used to avoid nucleation difficulties observed for GaAs growth directly on Si substrates. GaAs/Ge epilayers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si substrates in a manner similar to that described previously.

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Study of Low Cost Adsorbent for Drinking Water Purification

Journal of Environmental Science Computer Science and Engineering & Technology ◽

10.24214/jecet.a.6.3.10116 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

Keyword(s):

Drinking Water ◽

Water Purification ◽

Low Cost ◽

Drinking Water Purification

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Improvement of Ti/RuO2–IrO2 Anode Lifetime and Electrocatalytical Properties by Using an Eco-Friendly Thermal Decomposition Method Using Polyvinyl Alcohol as Solvent

10.26434/chemrxiv.7991129 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Charlys Bezerra ◽

Géssica Santos ◽

Marilia Pupo ◽

Maria Gomes ◽

Ronaldo Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Decomposition ◽

Polyvinyl Alcohol ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Electrochemical Impedance ◽

Pechini Method ◽

Low Cost ◽

Charge Transfer Resistance ◽

Transfer Resistance ◽

Calcination Temperatures ◽

Service Lifetime

Electrochemical oxidation processes are promising solutions for wastewater treatment due to their high efficiency, easy control and versatility. Mixed metal oxides (MMO) anodes are particularly attractive due to their low cost and specific catalytic properties. Here, we propose an innovative thermal decomposition methodology using <a>polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)</a> as a solvent to prepare Ti/RuO2–IrO2 anodes. Comparative anodes were prepared by conventional method employing a polymeric precursor solvent (Pechini method). The calcination temperatures studied were 300, 400 and 500 °C. The physical characterisation of all materials was performed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, while electrochemical characterisation was done by cyclic voltammetry, accelerated service lifetime and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Both RuO2 and IrO2 have rutile-type structures for all anodes. Rougher and more compact surfaces are formed for the anodes prepared using PVA. Amongst temperatures studied, 300 °C using PVA as solvent is the most suitable one to produce anodes with expressive increase in voltammetric charge (250%) and accelerated service lifetime (4.3 times longer) besides reducing charge-transfer resistance (8 times lower). Moreover, the electrocatalytic activity of the anodes synthesised with PVA toward the Reactive Blue 21 dye removal in chloride medium (100 % in 30 min) is higher than that prepared by Pechini method (60 min). Additionally, the removal total organic carbon point out improved mineralisation potential of PVA anodes. Finally, this study reports a novel methodology using PVA as solvent to synthesise Ti/RuO2–IrO2 anodes with improved properties that can be further extended to synthesise other MMO compositions.

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