A flexible and salt-rejecting electrospun film-based solar evaporator for economic, stable and efficient solar desalination and wastewater treatment.

Recently, interfacial solar evaporation has been developed for water treatment. However, the high cost and low stability of solar evaporators significantly hinder their practical applications. In this study, layered graphene and polymethylmethacrylate were used to fabricate a composited film (GF) by electrospinning, which acted as a solar absorber. Together with a water transporter (polyurethane sponge) and a thermal insulator (polystyrene foam), the GF-based evaporator was constructed for solar distillation. Taking advantage of the porous three-dimensional structure of GF, the light path could be extended, rendering an efficient broadband solar absorption (92%). More importantly, although the content of layered graphene in the GF-based evaporator (1.75 g m-2) was only 5.8-17.5% of that in the current reported graphene-based evaporators (10-30 g m-2), a comparable water evaporation efficiency was acquired, which was induced by the much higher utilization efficiency of photothermal nanomaterials in the GF-based evaporator than that in the reported devices, ensuring its economic feasibility. Meanwhile, more than 99.9% heavy metal ions and 99.8% organic dye could be removed by the GF-based evaporator. Combining the merits of long-term and stable evaporation, salt rejection, and resistance to harsh environment, the GF-based evaporator was promising for freshwater recycling from both seawater and wastewater.

Li D ，Zhang X ，Zhang S ，Wang D ，Wang Z ，Liu Y ，Yu X ，Zhao Q ，Xing B ... -  《-》

Salt-rejecting 3D cone flowing evaporator based on bilayer photothermal paper for high-performance solar seawater desalination.

Chen YQ ，Zhu YJ ，Wang ZY ，Yu HP ，Xiong ZC ... -  《-》

A novel, flexible porous nanofibrous hydrogel interfacial solar evaporator for highly efficient seawater and wastewater purification.

Solar desalination is recognized as one of the eco-friendly and sustainable ways to alleviate the global freshwater crisis but still requires further research, especially in developing high-performance evaporators. Herein, we prepared an efficient carbon nanotubes (CNTs)@polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibrous hydrogel evaporator by electrospinning and subsequently chemical cross-linking treatment. Due to CNTs with good light absorption capacity, the evaporator exhibited an excellent light absorption capacity (>90%) throughout the full spectrum range (250-2500 nm). Meanwhile, the interconnected pores from electrospinning, as well as the intermediate water in the hydrogel, ensured the prepared evaporator with a favorable evaporation rate of up to 2.16 kg m-2 h-1 and photothermal conversion efficiency of ∼88.13% under one solar light intensity. For long-term seawater desalination, the CNTs@PVA nanofibrous hydrogel evaporator also presented superior salt resistance, durability and good self-cleaning properties. Besides, various non-volatile pollutants can be completely removed by the prepared evaporator during the wastewater purification. As a result, this work is considered to provide a new direction for developing high-performance evaporators to provide freshwater through seawater desalination and wastewater purification.

Lv B ，Song C ，Liu Y ，Xu Y ，Fan X ... -  《-》

A solar evaporator fabricated from corncob waste for the desalination of seawater and removal of oil/herbicides from contaminated water.

Valadez-Renteria E ，Oliva J ，Oliva AI ，Ruiz-Gomez MA ，Encinas A ，Rodriguez-Gonzalez V ... -  《-》

Solar Evaporator with Controlled Salt Precipitation for Zero Liquid Discharge Desalination.

Shi Y ，Zhang C ，Li R ，Zhuo S ，Jin Y ，Shi L ，Hong S ，Chang J ，Ong C ，Wang P ... -  《-》