Clean Water from Air Utilizing Black TiO 2 ‑Based Photothermal Nanocomposite Sheets
2020
Herein, we demonstrate
a simple, highly efficient, and cost-effective
clean water generation strategy that can be implemented in the geographical
locations deprived of freshwater resources. We captured and purified
the atmospheric water utilizing CaCl2 as a deliquescent
material followed by solar thermal desalination with an engineered-photothermal
nanocomposite sheet (E-PNS). The E-PNS was prepared using Mn2+ ion promoted oxygen vacancy (VO) rich black anatase TiO2 nanoparticles as filler and poly(vinylidene fluoride) as
the polymer matrix. The developed E-PNS exhibits an excellent radiation
absorption of ∼98.5% covering the entire solar spectrum (250–2500
nm) and has interconnected micropores that facilitate efficient solar–thermal
heat and mass transfer. Hence, the reported clean water generation
strategy achieves a high solar to thermal conversion efficiency of
90% under light irradiation (solar simulator, intensity 1.13 kW m–2), which is 2.2 times higher when compared to water
itself. Further, real-time analysis of an E-PNS integrated all-in-one
water from air generator prototype showed a clean water generation
rate of 0.365 kg m–2 h–1, i.e.,
∼2.2 L m–2 day–1, under
direct solar irradiation (∼1.06 kW m–2),
thereby offering a very promising technological solution for the production
of clean water in water-scarce regions.
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