Work

Foam-loaded carbon nanotubes aerogel for solar-driven water evaporation via air-water interfacial heating

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Solar-driven interfacial evaporation has emerged as a highly promising technology for fresh water production from seawater. However, two critical challenges remain: preventing salt accumulation on evaporators and minimizing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from entering the condensed fresh water. In this work, a CNTs-PVA-PU aerogel evaporator with both salt-rejection and VOCs adsorption property were fabricated using carbon nanotubes (CNTs), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyurethane (PU) foam as the building bricks. The CNTs-PVA-PU aerogel exhibits a good evaporation rate of 1.42 kg·m-2·h-1 with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 97.75% under 1 kW·m-2 irradiation. The superhydrophilic nature of the CNTs-PVA-PU aerogel enables efficient brine reflux, returning the concentrated brine to the bottom feed water, thus achieving stable salt-rejection property. The salt-rejection property allows the aerogel to maintain a consistent evaporation rate over 10 consecutive solar evaporation cycles without performance reduction. Furthermore, the aerogel effectively adsorbs phenol in the concentration range of 1-20 mg·L-1 from feed water, thereby producing pure condensed fresh water. This work demonstrates the strong potential of the CNTs-PVA-PU aerogel for practical seawater desalination applications.

Source: Colloids and Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects

DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2025.138532

Authors: Miaomiao Ye, Ziyi Luo, Xiaohong Zhou, Chengwei Xiao, Nan Jiang, Lei Fang

Institution: Zhejiang University

Language: English

Topic: Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Affordable and clean energy, Clean water and sanitation, Responsible consumption and production, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,200