Work

Black Body-Inspired Chemically Oxidized Nanostructures with Varied Perforations: A New Frontier in Solar Desalination

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Ideal black bodies absorb all electromagnetic energy without reflecting it. As it does not reflect or transmit light, it appears black when cold. Heated black bodies emit black body radiation, a temperature-dependent spectrum. This idea helps scientists and engineers comprehend heat radiation and design efficient solar desalination absorbers. This work uses the black body concept to create three non-contact nanostructured single-slope solar stills (NCNSSSs) with varied perforation diameters (2.4 mm, 3.2 mm, and 3.8 mm). The chemical oxidation of mirror-polished perforated stainless steel 304 sheets resulted in highly absorptive top surfaces with 90% absorptivity. The structures’ bottom surfaces were coated with a commercial high-emissivity coating to make them 85% emissive. The developed non-contact nanostructures absorbed maximum solar light and converted it into infrared radiation using a highly emissive bottom coating and a very absorptive top coating. Water, an excellent absorber of infrared (IR) radiation, readily absorbs the IR radiations and evaporates through the perforations, thus producing a desalination effect. Experiments were conducted parallelly in three NCNSSSs under the same weather conditions at three water depths. It was observed that non-contact nanostructure perforation diameters affected solar still performance. The NCNSSS-3 (3.8 mm) achieved a 9.89% and 13.47% higher productivity than the NCNSSS-2 (3.2 mm) and NCNSSS-1 (2.4 mm) at a 5 mm water depth. Additionally, fouling studies, expedited corrosion studies, and water quality assessments (TDS, salinity, fluoride, chlorides, nitrates, sodium) were performed. Water eminence examinations confirmed that the collected freshwater was bacteria-free and safe to drink.

Source: Water

DOI: 10.3390/w16233444

Authors: Ajay Kumar Kaviti, Shaik Afzal Mohiuddin, Vineet Singh Sikarwar

Institutions: Vallurupalli Nageswara Rao Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Plasma Physics, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague

Language: English

Topic: Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Clean water and sanitation, Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,955