Multifunctional bio-based photothermal hydrogel for highly efficient seawater desalination and contaminant adsorption

Reusable Floating Spherical Hydrogel Evaporator for Solar Desalination with Salt Mitigation and Contaminant Elimination

“…The scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of HC shows vertically aligned pores of diameter 2–3 μm (Figure a,b). From the N 2 adsorption–desorption cycle, it was found that HC shows a type IV isotherm having an H 3 hysteresis loop (Figure c) . The surface area was found to be 90.2 m 2 g –1, and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) plot shows that the pore size distribution was centered at 52 nm (Figure d).…”

“…The hybrid network created by the addition of SA and CMC to the PVA gel favors chelation by the excessive carboxyl and hydroxy (−OH) groups in the SA and CMC matrix. The heavy metal ions having outer ( n – 1) d and ns vacant orbitals can easily accept the lone pair of electrons from the oxygen atom and can form the chelate bonds with −OH and −COO – groups easily . Among the several heavy metals, Hg 2+ has a unique evaporative property that makes it highly challenging to eliminate using a straightforward evaporation procedure.…”

Photothermal–Photocatalytic CSG@ZFG Evaporator for Synergistic Salt Rejection and VOC Removal during Solar-Driven Water Distillation

“…However, exploring a low-cost photothermal evaporator with effective thermal management is the need of the hour. In this view, naturally abundant biomass-derived photothermal gels are ideal evaporators as they feature advantages of sustainability and outstanding evaporation performance . Undoubtedly, the rate of evaporation has been improved largely by employing these photothermal materials along with hydrophilic polymer gels. , However, in spite of thoughtful efforts to increase the vaporization efficiency, there has not been an appreciable outcome due to deposition of salt crystals on the top surface of the evaporator, which hinders water transport and largely affects the life period of the evaporator.…”