Fabrication of a Highly Efficient Wood-Based Solar Interfacial Evaporator with Self-Desalting and Sterilization Performance

Abstract

Solar interfacial evaporation based on wood-derived materials has been considered a promising strategy for desalination and wastewater purification. Herein, we adopted delignified wood (DW) as the water transport substrate and lignosulfonate (LS)-modified narrow-band gap semiconductor nickel disulfide (NiS2) as the light-absorbing agent (LS-NiS2) to fabricate a high-efficiency evaporator (LS-NiS2@DW). On the one hand, the high absorbance (>95%) within a broad wavelength range and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency of LS-NiS2 endow efficient solar energy utilization. On the other hand, the hydrophilicity of DW facilitates water activation, which results in a lower evaporation enthalpy of LS-NiS2@DW (1274.4 kJ kg–1) than that of pure water. By combining LS-NiS2 and DW, LS-NiS2@DW achieved an evaporation rate as high as 2.80 kg m–2 h–1 under one sun irradiation (1 kW m–2), and the evaporation efficiency reached 87.4%. Notably, LS-NiS2@DW exhibits a high evaporation rate (2.42–2.69 kg m–2 h–1) in simulated seawater for 24 h with no salt crystals formed on the surface. Moreover, LS-NiS2@DW shows high antibacterial activity with about 90% reduction in bacterial survival rate. This work could provide new perspectives for the design of a high-efficiency wood-based photothermal evaporator.

Research Advances in Wood Composites in Applications of Industrial Wastewater Purification and Solar-Driven Seawater Desalination

“…Solar interfacial evaporation is considered as a promising strategy for solar-driven seawater desalination and industrial wastewater purification. Yan et al [ 82 ] used delignified wood (DW) as a water transport substrate and lignosulfonate (LS)-modified nickel disulfide (NiS 2 ) as a light absorber (LS-NiS 2 ) to prepare an efficient LS-NiS 2 /DW evaporator ( Figure 7 d). The results show that LS-NiS 2 has a high absorption rate (>95%) and photothermal conversion efficiency in a wide wavelength range.…”

“…[ 79 ]. Copyright 2021 Elsevier Ltd. ( d ) Synthetic schematic illustration of the wood-based hydrogel coating with CdS-MoSe 2 for solar steam generation and hydrogen energy conversion [ 82 ]. Reprinted with permission from Ref.…”

“…Reprinted with permission from Ref. [ 82 ]. Copyright 2022 ACS Publications Ltd. ( e ) Preparation of WPM evaporator and its assembly with a top-down water supply device for solar steam generation and desalination [ 83 ].…”