Multifunctional Ag₃PO₄-rGO-Coated Textiles for Clean Water Production by Solar-Driven Evaporation, Photocatalysis, and Disinfection

Abstract

Solar-driven water evaporation is of great importance for freshwater production via solar distillation and has attracted growing attention recently by the development of heat localization strategies. Yet, when polluted water is used as the source water, solar-driven water evaporation might further deteriorate the pollution. In this study, we report the facile preparation of multifunctional Ag3PO4-reduced graphene oxide (Ag3PO4-rGO) nanocomposite-coated textiles for clean water production by solar-driven water evaporation, photocatalysis, and disinfection. The multifunctional textiles are obtained through coating Ag3PO4-rGO nanocomposites onto cotton textile substrates. The resulting textile can float on the water surface, absorb solar light, and convert it into heat, enhancing the water surface temperature and promoting water evaporation. We show that with Ag3PO4-rGO nanocomposite-coated textiles on the water surface, a high water evaporation rate of 1.31 kg/(m2 h) can be reached under solar light irradiation. Furthermore, the textiles can simultaneously decompose organic dyes and disinfect pathogenic microbes in water, purifying the raw water during solar-driven water evaporation. Such an all-in-one multifunctional textile provides a facile yet sustainable strategy for freshwater production.

Defect‐Induced Self‐Cleaning Solar Absorber with Full‐Spectrum Light Absorption for Efficient Dye Wastewater Purification

“…The evaporation rate of H‐TiO 2− X /Cs X WO 3 was comparable to those of reported Ti‐related solar evaporators and multifunctional solar evaporators (Figure 6h). [ 26,27,30–33,35,36,64,67–72 ]…”

“…Previous studies pointed that pollutants such as organic dyes concentrated in bulk water during solar water evaporation, thus leading to more serious pollution. [ 30 ] In this study, we carefully researched dye accumulation behaviors in bulk water and on the surface of solar absorbers. A continuous 12 h solar‐driven evaporation was conducted under 1 sun, and H‐TiO 2− X /Cs X WO 3 with optimized photocatalytic activity and RhB solution were used as the solar absorber and simulated pollution, respectively.…”

“…[ 28,29 ] For example, Noureen et al designed a multifunctional solar absorber, which was composed of Ag 3 PO 4 ‐reduced graphene oxide (rGO)‐coated cotton textiles, which could completely degrade dyes within 90 min and kill pathogenic bacteria in water, accompanied by a water evaporation rate of 1.30 kg m −2 h −1 . [ 30 ] Shi et al reported that the concentration of chemical oxygen demand in purified water without solar absorbers was 302% of the initial solution with a concentration of 20 mg L −1 , and the solar absorber integrating a heterogeneous photo‐Fenton reaction achieved a high removal efficiency of phenol (≈98.2%). [ 31 ] A mesoporous oxygen vacancy (O V )‐rich TiO 2– X (m‐TiO 2– X ) nanofibrous membrane, combining photothermal water evaporation and photocatalysis, was proposed.…”

Solar‐Driven Photocatalytic Disinfection Over 2D Semiconductors: The Generation and Effects of Reactive Oxygen Species

“…Apart from membranes, the photocatalytic coating (rGO/Ag 3 PO 4 ) has been involved in floating textiles for clean water production mainly by solar‐driven evaporation (Figure 18b). [ 283 ] The surface coating encouraged water evaporation by working as a solar‐light absorber and converting solar energy to heat. Furthermore, the photocatalyst exerted water purification ability because it decomposed both organic pollutants and disinfected the pathogenic microbes in water.…”

An Integrated Photocatalytic and Photothermal Process for Solar‐Driven Efficient Purification of Complex Contaminated Water

“…[37] During solar distillation, however, nonvolatile impurities are left behind and enriched in the remaining source water, whose treatment has received little attention. [38] DOI: 10.1002/ente.202000456…”