Nanoparticles Heat through Light Localization

Hogan, Nathaniel J.; Urban, Alexander S.; Ayala-Orozco, Ciceron; Pimpinelli, Alberto; Nordlander, Peter; Halas, Naomi J.

doi:10.1021/nl5016975

Cited by 409 publications

(383 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, there is no evidence to support the claim that steam production was caused by nanobubbles, i.e., bubbles were formed on top of heated nanoparticles. It should be noted that the solar intensity employed here was 220 Suns, as a few previous work [17,[37][38][39][40][41] has suggested that nanobubbles were unlikely to be generated under relatively low heat fluxes. For example, both Kotaidis et al [42] and Keblinski et al [43] pointed out that a laser power density equivalent to more than Suns was required to form nanobubbles.…”

Section: Steam Generation Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steam generation in a nanoparticle-based solar receiver

et al. 2016

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, Steam generation in a nanoparticle-based solar receiver, Nano Energy, http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.nanoen.2016.08.011 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Steam production is essential for a wide range of applications, and currently there is still strong debate if steam could be generated on top of heated nanoparticles in a solar receiver. We performed steam generation experiments for different concentrations of gold nanoparticles dispersions in a cylindrical receiver under focused natural sunlight of 220 Suns. Combined with mathematical modelling, it is found that steam generation is mainly caused by localized boiling and vaporization in the superheated region due to highly non-uniform temperature and radiation energy distribution, albeit the bulk fluid is still subcooled. Such a phenomenon can be well explained by the classical heat transfer theory, and the hypothesized 'nanobubble', i.e., steam produced around the heated nanoparticles, is unlikely to occur under normal solar concentrations.In the future solar receiver design, more solar energy should be focused and trapped at the superheated region while minimizing the temperature rise of the bulk fluid. Graphical abstract

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Section: Steam Generation Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steam generation in a nanoparticle-based solar receiver

et al. 2016

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“…In a separated theoretical study, of the nanobubble development kinetics around plasmonic gold nanoparticle by Julien et al [51] showed that to generate a nanobubble, a flux intensity of around 1×10 10 W/m 2 was required to 5 generate a nanobubble on a plasmonic gold nanoparticle. However quite differently, Hogan et al [52] reported that ~ 1 MW/m 2 solar reflux was sufficient for efficient steam production due to a collective effect of nanoparticles that both scatter and absorb light, hence localizing light energy into mesoscale volumes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Volumetric solar heating and steam generation via gold nanofluids

et al. 2017

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Volumetric solar absorption using nanofluids can minimize the thermal loss by trapping the light inside the fluid volume. A strong surface boiling with the underneath fluid still subcooled could have many interesting applications, whose mechanism is however still under strong debate. This work advanced our understanding on volumetric fluid heating by performing a novel experiment under a unique uniform solar heating setup at 280 Suns, with a particular focus on the steam production phenomenon using gold nanofluids. To take the temperature distribution into account, a new integration method was used to calculate the sensible heating contribution. The results showed that the photothermal conversion efficiency was enhanced significantly by gold nanofluids. A three-stage heating scenario was identified and during the first stage most of the energy was absorbed by the surface fluid, resulting in rapid vapor generation with the underneath fluid still subcooled. The condensed vapor analysis showed no nanoparticle escaping even under vigorous boiling conditions. Such results reveal that nanoparticle enabled volumetric solar heating could have many promising applications including clean water production in arid areas where abundant solar energy is available. highlights  Novel experiment was performed for nanofluids at a focused solar flux of 280 Suns. Strong surface evaporation was enabled while the bulk fluid was still subcooled  A new integration method was used to calculate photothermal conversion efficiency  Gold nanofluid (0.04w%) increased photothermal conversion efficiency by 95%. The authors are grateful for all the constructive comments from the reviewer and the Editor. Most of the comments were concerned on the presentation of the work. We have addressed all these concerns in the revised version, and a point-by-point reply is supplied below Reviewer #1:The authors of the present work experimentally investigated the surface boiling and steam production mechanism of gold nanofluids under uniform solar heating of 280 Suns. Various concentrations of gold nanofluids were produced and the generated steam was condensed and tested to reveal the presence of any nanoparticles.The study provides good insight to the surface boiling phenomenon of nanofluids and is in consonant with recent trend of investigation. However, there are several problems that need to be addressed before considering for publication in Applied Energy.1. The Abstract, in its current state is incomplete. It is more like a conclusion and needs to be re-written.Action: the abstract was rewritten with more focus on the novelty 2. The use of "gold nanofluids" should be mentioned in the Title and Abstract.Action: The title was slightly changed to reflect the content, and the was used in the title and the abstract in the revised version.3. In the statement: "For example, researchers [43] from Rice University", the Institution name should be replaced by the Authors' name.Action: T was used to replace the institution name in the revised version....

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“…1B). This process is based on the highly efficient, highly localized photothermal heating (27)(28)(29)(30) induced by solar illumination of broadband light-absorbing NPs, here embedded within the surface layer of the distillation membrane. The localized heating induces vaporization of the feed water, which subsequently condenses on the distillate side of the membrane.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The absorption efficiency and spatial distribution of absorbed energy together determine the heat source density, which dictates the solar photothermal temperature increase and thus the water vapor flux through the membrane. Because the CB-laden membrane is a medium that is both strongly optically scattering and absorbing, theoretical calculations using a Monte Carlo photon transport method were necessary to accurately describe the membrane's utility as a photodriven heat source (27). The calculated distribution of absorbed photons ( Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation for off-grid water purification

Dongare

Alabastri

Pedersen

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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376

262

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With more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert nonpotable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here, we demonstrate nanophotonicsenabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household-or community-scale desalination.our billion people around the world face at least 1 month of water scarcity every year (1, 2). To meet increasing water demand, it has become necessary to exploit saline water, abundant in the ocean and in brackish aquifers, and convert it to potable water (3, 4). Presently, there are more than 18,000 water desalination plants operating in 150 countries, producing 86.8 × 10 6 m 3 of water per day, enough for 300 million people (5, 6). The annual energy consumed by these plants is nominally 75 TWh, accounting for 50% of their operating costs (7-9) and 0.4% of the world electric power consumption (10). The possibility of directly using renewable energy would reduce this highly demanding cost of operation and make affordable clean water more accessible around the world.Many of the current desalination techniques involve phase change, and thus are inherently energy intensive. Among these, membrane distillation (MD) has gained recent attention because it can distill water at lower temperatures than conventional distillation (i.e., boiling) and lower pressures than reverse osmosis (RO) (11-16). In the conventional direct-contact MD process, hot saline water (feed) and cold purified water (distillate) flow on opposite sides of a hydrophobic membrane (Fig. 1A). The temperature difference between the two flows produces a vapor pressure difference across the membrane, leading to (salt-free) water vapor transporting through the membrane from the warmer feed to the colder distillate, where it condenses. However, MD suffers from several inherent limitations. Heat transfer reduces the cross-membrane temperature difference, resulting in lower vapor flux across the membrane and thus lower efficiency. This temperature difference is further decreased along the length of the membrane module, resulting in a maximal usable length of a single module.When no recirculation or heat recovery is used, energy is also lost when hot feed water exits the membrane module. Heating the volume of feed wat...

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Nanoparticles Heat through Light Localization

Cited by 409 publications

References 34 publications

Steam generation in a nanoparticle-based solar receiver

Steam generation in a nanoparticle-based solar receiver

Volumetric solar heating and steam generation via gold nanofluids

Nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation for off-grid water purification

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