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Highly efficient and salt rejecting solar evaporation via a wick-free confined water layer

Author

Listed:
  • Lenan Zhang

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Xiangyu Li

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Yang Zhong

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Arny Leroy

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Zhenyuan Xu

    (Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Lin Zhao

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Evelyn N. Wang

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Recent advances in thermally localized solar evaporation hold significant promise for vapor generation, seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, and medical sterilization. However, salt accumulation is one of the key bottlenecks for reliable adoption. Here, we demonstrate highly efficient (>80% solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency) and salt rejecting (20 weight % salinity) solar evaporation by engineering the fluidic flow in a wick-free confined water layer. With mechanistic modeling and experimental characterization of salt transport, we show that natural convection can be triggered in the confined water. More notably, there exists a regime enabling simultaneous thermal localization and salt rejection, i.e., natural convection significantly accelerates salt rejection while inducing negligible additional heat loss. Furthermore, we show the broad applicability by integrating this confined water layer with a recently developed contactless solar evaporator and report an improved efficiency. This work elucidates the fundamentals of salt transport and offers a low-cost strategy for high-performance solar evaporation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lenan Zhang & Xiangyu Li & Yang Zhong & Arny Leroy & Zhenyuan Xu & Lin Zhao & Evelyn N. Wang, 2022. "Highly efficient and salt rejecting solar evaporation via a wick-free confined water layer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-28457-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28457-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Miao, Jie & Lv, Fengyong & Gulfam, Raza & Zhao, Weiping, 2023. "Synergistic effect of superhydrophilic skeleton decorated with hierarchical micro/nanostructures and graphene oxide on solar evaporation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    2. Yajie Hu & Hongyun Ma & Mingmao Wu & Tengyu Lin & Houze Yao & Feng Liu & Huhu Cheng & Liangti Qu, 2022. "A reconfigurable and magnetically responsive assembly for dynamic solar steam generation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Shuqi Xu & Alice J. Hutchinson & Mahdiar Taheri & Ben Corry & Juan F. Torres, 2024. "Thermodiffusive desalination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Eliodoro Chiavazzo, 2022. "Critical aspects to enable viable solar-driven evaporative technologies for water treatment," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-4, December.
    5. Kaijie Yang & Tingting Pan & Saichao Dang & Qiaoqiang Gan & Yu Han, 2022. "Three-dimensional open architecture enabling salt-rejection solar evaporators with boosted water production efficiency," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.

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