Seawater Desalination by Interfacial Solar Vapor Generation Method Using Plasmonic Heating Nanocomposites

With the ever-growing demand in fresh water supply, great efforts have been devoted to developing sustainable systems which could generate fresh water continuously. Solar vapor generation is one of the promising strategies which comprise an unlimited energy source and efficient solar-to-heat generators for overcoming fresh water scarcity. However, current solar vapor generation systems suffer either from inefficient utilization of solar energy or an expensive fabrication process. In this paper, we introduced a nano-plasmonic approach, i.e., a floatable nanocompoiste where copper sulfide nanorods (Cu2-xS NRs) are embedded in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix, for solar-to-vapor generation. A high solar vapor generation efficiency of ~87% and water evaporation rate of 1.270 kg m−2 h−1 were achieved under simulated solar irradiation of 1 sun. With the illumination of natural daylight, seawater was purified using Cu2-xS NRs-PVA gel, with high purity, as distilled drinking water. The plasmonic nanocomposites demonstrated here are easy to fabricate and highly efficient for solar vapor generation, illustrating a potential solution for future seawater desalination.

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Bifunctional Cu2-xSe-decorated hierarchical TiO2 nanotube mesh with solar water evaporation and photodegradation effects for clean water generation

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2019.076 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (7) ◽

pp. 2001-2008

Author(s):

Peng Ren ◽

Xiuchun Yang

Keyword(s):

Solar Energy ◽

Low Cost ◽

Water Shortage ◽

Tio2 Nanotube ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Localized Surface Plasmon ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Solar Water ◽

Feasible Solutions ◽

Simulated Solar Irradiation

Abstract The desalination and purification of sea or brackish water by utilizing solar energy are considered to be the most feasible solutions to overcome the problems of water shortage and pollution. In this study, a bifunctional Cu2-xSe-decorated hierarchical TiO2 nanotube mesh (CTNM) was designed and synthesized successfully for both solar water evaporation and photodegradation. Cu2-xSe enhances solar light absorption and solar water evaporation performance as a low-cost absorber because of its localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. Meanwhile, the formation of the p-Cu2-xSe/n-TiO2 heterojunction improves the photodegradation performance by increasing separation and transport of photogenerated charge carriers. Hence, CTNM has a relatively high solar water evaporation conversion efficiency of 83.06% and also can photodegrade 95% of methyl orange after 3 h under 2.5 kW m−2 simulated solar irradiation, which demonstrate the extremely high utilization ratio of solar energy of CTNM.

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Interfacial Engineering of Attractive Pickering Emulsion Gel-Templated Porous Materials for Enhanced Solar Vapor Generation

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14196077 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (19) ◽

pp. 6077

Author(s):

Xiaoxiao Yan ◽

Baiheng Wu ◽

Qinglin Wu ◽

Li Chen ◽

Fangfu Ye ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Porous Materials ◽

Water Transport ◽

Rational Design ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Clean Water ◽

Pickering Emulsions ◽

Vapor Generation ◽

Interfacial Engineering ◽

Inner Surface ◽

Simulated Solar Irradiation

Solar vapor generation is emerging as one of the most important sustainable techniques for harvesting clean water using abundant and green solar energy. The rational design of solar evaporators to realize high solar evaporation performances has become a great challenge. Here, a porous solar evaporator with integrative optimization of photothermal convention, water transport and thermal management is developed using attractive Pickering emulsions gels (APEG) as templated and followed by interfacial engineering on a molecular scale. The APEG-templated porous evaporators (APEG-TPEs) are intrinsically thermal insulation materials with a thermal conductivity = 0.039 W·m−1·K−1. After hydrolysis, t-butyl groups on the inner-surface are transformed to carboxylic acid groups, making the inner-surface hydrophilic and facilitating water transport through the inter-connected pores. The introduction of polypyrrole layer endows the porous materials with a high light absorption of ~97%, which could effectively convert solar irradiation to heat. Due to the versatility of the APEG systems, the composition, compressive modulus, porosity of APEG-TPEs could be well controlled and a high solar evaporation efficiency of 69% with an evaporation rate of 1.1 kg·m−2·h−1 is achieved under simulated solar irradiation. The interface-engineered APEG-TPEs are promising in clean water harvesting and could inspire the future development of solar evaporators.

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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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A Thorough Investigation of Photo-catalytic Degradation of ortho and para-Nitro Phenols in binary mixtures: New Insights into Evaluating Degradations Progress Using Chemometrics Approaches

New Journal of Chemistry ◽

10.1039/d1nj02153b ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

S. Maryam Sajjadi ◽

Zeinab Asadollah-pour ◽

S. Hashem Sajjadi ◽

S. Nasrin Nabavi ◽

Zahra Abed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Binary Mixtures ◽

Zno Nanoparticles ◽

Catalytic Degradation ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Photo Catalyst ◽

Decomposition Processes ◽

Simulated Solar Irradiation ◽

Photo Decomposition

In this study, photocatalytic degradations of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol were carried out efficiently using ZnO nanoparticles photo-catalyst under simulated solar irradiation. The photo-decomposition processes were optimized simultaneously by employing central...

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Photolytic degradation of quinalphos in natural waters and on soil matrices under simulated solar irradiation

Chemosphere ◽

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.12.020 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 64 (8) ◽

pp. 1375-1382 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

C. Gonçalves ◽

A. Dimou ◽

V. Sakkas ◽

M.F. Alpendurada ◽

T.A. Albanis

Keyword(s):

Natural Waters ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Photolytic Degradation ◽

Simulated Solar Irradiation

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Rapid Degradation of Rhodamine B over Cyclodextrin Modified TiO2

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.694.764 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 694 ◽

pp. 764-768

Author(s):

Xu Zhang ◽

Nan Sheng Deng

Keyword(s):

Electron Transfer ◽

Excited States ◽

Rhodamine B ◽

Self Assembly ◽

Initial Rate ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Pollutant Degradation ◽

Rapid Degradation ◽

Hybrid Nanomaterial ◽

Simulated Solar Irradiation

A novel β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) grafted titanium dioxide (TiO2/β-CD) was synthesized through photo-induced self assembly methods, and its structure was characterized. The TiO2/β-CD hybrid nanomaterial showed high photoactivity under visible light irradiation (λ  400 nm and/or λ  420 nm) and simulated solar irradiation (λ  365 nm). Photodegradation of rhodamine B followed the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics model. The initial rate R0 of rhodamine B degradation increased by 4.6, 2.4 and 1.5 times in the irradiation conditions of λ  420 nm, λ  400 nm and λ  365 nm, respectively. β-CD increased the lifetimes of the excited states of the unreactive guests and facilitated the electron transfer from the excited dye to the TiO2 conduction band, which enhanced the dye pollutant degradation.

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Red-emitting Ca1-xSrxS:Eu2+ Phosphors as Light Converters for Plant-growth Applications

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2011.864 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1342 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Qi Xia ◽

Miroslaw Batentschuk ◽

Andres Osvet ◽

Peter Richter ◽

Donat P. Häder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Broad Band ◽

Solar Spectrum ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Solid State Reactions ◽

Photon Flux ◽

Spectral Modification ◽

Simulated Solar Irradiation ◽

Photosynthetic Activities ◽

The Eu ◽

Spinach Leaves

ABSTRACTA series of Ca1-xSrxS:Eu2+y mol% phosphors were synthesized with solid state reactions and with various Ca/Sr ratio and Eu2+ doping concentrations. The influences of the lattice composition and the Eu2+ doping level on photoluminescent properties were analyzed. With doping concentrations between 0.1 to 3 mol%, concentration quenching takes place leading to the decrease of luminance; the emission maxima are also red-shifted. Further, this work reports enhanced photosynthetic activities of intact spinach leaves due to spectral modification of simulated solar irradiation by one synthesized phosphor (Ca0.4Sr0.6S:Eu1 mol%). The CO2 assimilation rates of intact spinach leaves were monitored with an effective homemade photosynthesis measurement system with controlled light conditions. The phosphor could efficiently convert the photosynthetically less active green part of the solar spectrum into the red, with a broad-band red emission centered at 650 nm and a halfband-width of 68 nm, giving an excellent match with the absorption spectrum of spinach chloroplasts. By careful referencing the photon flux, we found an enhanced photosynthetic activities by about 30 % due to the emission of the phosphor.

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Hygienic Aspects of the Use of Desalinated Sea Water for Drinking and Household Purposes: A Literature Review

ЗДОРОВЬЕ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ И СРЕДА ОБИТАНИЯ - ЗНиСО / PUBLIC HEALTH AND LIFE ENVIRONMENT ◽

10.35627/2219-5238/2021-29-8-26-32 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 26-32

Author(s):

OO Sinitsyna ◽

VV Turbinsky ◽

TM Ryashentseva ◽

EP Lavrik

Keyword(s):

Drinking Water ◽

Fresh Water ◽

Land Surface ◽

Sea Water ◽

Additional Treatment ◽

Toxic Substances ◽

Seawater Desalination ◽

Preliminary Preparation ◽

And Migration ◽

Desalination Plants

Background. Uneven distribution of fresh water sources on the land surface encourages a search for effective techniques of potable water preparation by desalination of seawater. Hygienic issues of such desalination methods as distillation, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and ion exchange have been investigated by now and appropriate limitations, requirements, and additional measures to ensure safety of desalinated drinking water have been established. Objective. To summarize and systematize the results of studying characteristics of various methods of seawater desalination for its further use for drinking and household purposes. Materials and methods. We conducted a systematic review of studies published in Russian and in English, found in the PubMed and Web of Science databases, and selected 40 literary sources containing an empirical assessment of effectiveness of seawater desalination and preparation of drinking water. We also scrutinized regulatory documents and guidelines of domestic sanitary legislation. The research results were systematized by the main desalination methods. Results and discussion. We established that the use of seawater for the preparation of fresh water for drinking and household purposes is becoming increasingly widespread around the world. Drinking water obtained from seawater, in all cases, requires additional treatment and measures to optimize its mineral composition and protect against microorganisms. Conclusion. The main challenges of ensuring sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing of the population when using desalinated seawater for drinking and household purposes include selection of a source, arrangement of sites of water intake properly protected from natural and man-made pollution, substantiation of techniques and modes of preliminary preparation of source seawater adequate to its composition, basic desalination, ensuring safety of products of destruction and migration of toxic substances from reagents and materials of desalination plants, additional conditioning with the necessary elements and disinfection of the prepared water, as well as environmental protection from desalination waste.

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