Spherical Design-Driven Scalable Solar-Powered Water Treatment with Salt Self-Cleaning and Light Self-Adaptivity
writer：Yiqi Liao, Chuang Wang, Yanjuan Dong, Zhouyu Miao, Hou-Yong Yu,* Guozhuo Chen, Juming Yao, Yongfeng
keywords：cellulose, large-scale, seawater treatment, solar harvesting, sustainability
source：期刊
Issue time：2024年
Interfacial solar evaporation, harnessing sunlight to induce water molecule
evaporation, holds great promise for sustainable solar energy conversion.
However, challenges such as reduced efficiency and instability due to salt
accumulation, inadequate water transport, and the high cost of advanced
nanostructured solar evaporators collectively hinder the sustainable and
large-scale practical use of this technology. Herein, an eco-friendly, floatable
3D solar seawater evaporator is developed by innovatively incorporating a
lightweight foam ball enclosed in a porous cellulose hydrogel. The 3D
evaporator achieves a high water evaporation rate of ≈2.01 kg m?2 h?1 under
1 Sun, owing to its super high photothermal efficiency of 117.9% and efficient
internal water transport channels. Even at a 0° simulated solar angle, the 3D
evaporator maintains 85.8% of the evaporation rate at a 90° simulated solar
angle. Moreover, the salt self-cleaning capability is realized by the
autonomous rotation caused by salt deposition. Particularly, the 3D
evaporator can be fabricated over a large area and maintain seawater
evaporation performance and structural integrity for 28 days. This study
provides novel economically feasible and sustainable large-scale solutions for
interfacial solar-powered seawater treatment.