Photothermal materials: A key platform enabling highly efficient water evaporation driven by solar energy

Wu, Xuan; Chen, George G.; Owens, Gary; Chu, Dewei; Xu, Haolan

doi:10.1016/j.mtener.2019.02.001

Cited by 273 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 250 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

149

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In general, the utilization of solar energy is divided into two methods: photothermal and photovoltaic (PV). Photothermal systems utilize the heat energy from solar radiation for various purposes such as crop drying, solar stoves, and solar water heaters [4]. The PV system converts photons from solar radiation directly into electrical energy using solar cell technology [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Air Cooling for Photovoltaic Panels Using Aluminum Heat Sinks

Arifin

Tjahjana

Hadi

et al. 2020

International Journal of Photoenergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An increase in the operating temperature of photovoltaic (PV) panels caused by high levels of solar irradiation can affect the efficiency and lifespan of PV panels. This study uses numerical and experimental analyses to investigate the reduction in the operating temperature of PV panels with an air-cooled heat sink. The proposed heat sink was designed as an aluminum plate with perforated fins that is attached to the back of the PV panel. A comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was conducted using the software ANSYS Fluent to ensure that the heat sink model worked properly. The influence of heat sinks on the heat transfer between a PV panel and the circulating ambient air was investigated. The results showed a substantial decrease in the operating temperature of the PV panel and an increase in its electrical performance. The CFD analysis in the heat sink model with an air flow velocity of 1.5 m/s and temperature of 35°C under a heat flux of 1000 W/m2 showed a decrease in the PV panel’s average temperature from 85.3°C to 72.8°C. As a consequence of decreasing its temperature, the heat sink increased the open-circuit photovoltage (VOC) and maximum power point (PMPP) of the PV panel by 10% and 18.67%, respectively. Therefore, the use of aluminum heat sinks could provide a potential solution to prevent PV panels from overheating and may indirectly lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions due to the increased electricity production from the PV system.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Air Cooling for Photovoltaic Panels Using Aluminum Heat Sinks

Arifin

Tjahjana

Hadi

et al. 2020

International Journal of Photoenergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Graphene and their derivatives have recently emerged as most promising photothermal materials toward solar water evaporation, as they are commonly featured with good light harvesting, excellent light-to-heat conversion and tunable thermal conductivity [11]. Assembling two-dimensional (2D) graphene-based sheets into three-dimensional (3D) aerogel can further enhance the solar utilization by the multiple light-matter interactions and by recovering most diffuse reflected light through the adsorption of 3D walls [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coupling of Hierarchical Al2O3/TiO2 Nanofibers into 3D Photothermal Aerogels Toward Simultaneous Water Evaporation and Purification

Meng

et al. 2020

Adv. Fiber Mater.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Serious freshwater shortage and environmental pollution boost the rapid development of solar-driven water production. Although improved evaporation rate has achieved in recent years, undesirable impurity (e.g., pollutant components) can also be inevitably evaporated and collected as impurity in produced freshwater. This work reports new ultra-light threedimensional (3D) aerogels assembled by hierarchical Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for exciting synchronized solar-driven evaporation and water purification. Hydrophilic Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 fibrous channels linked up the graphene hot-spots and water body for sufficient water supply and bulk water insulation. Meanwhile, featured with thermal insulation effect, the Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers effectively locked the converted heat with less energy loss from sunlight. The introducing of Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers into RGO aerogel led to the effective interfacial evaporation for a more rapid water evaporation rate (2.19 kg • m −2 • h −1 , normalized to evaporation area including both top and side surface), which was 36% higher than that of pristine RGO aerogel. Moreover, simultaneous with the strong steam generation, Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers in situ removed the pollutants within steam by photodegradation, achieving polluted wastewater purification with high contaminant removal ratio of 91.3%. Our work on coupling Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers into photothermal aerogel provides attractive solutions for the challenges of clean water scarcity and serious environmental pollution.

show abstract

“…[ 1 ] Enormous effort has been devoted to exploiting efficient solar steam generation devices, which mostly focuses on the selection of photothermal materials. Various functional materials have been applied in solar vapor generation, [ 2 ] such as metal nanomaterials, [ 3 ] semiconductors, [ 4 ] carbon‐based materials, [ 5 ] and polymers. [ 6 ] However, there are still many challenges for the practical implementation of photothermal materials due to their high cost, complexity of manufacture, and difficulty in scaling up.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turning Trash into Treasure: Pencil Waste–Derived Materials for Solar‐Powered Water Evaporation

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Solar steam generation is regarded as one of the most attractive technologies to relieve the stress of freshwater storage. Low cost and scalable production of solar evaporators is a critical issue to be considered for practical applications. Herein, the recycling utilization of pencil wastes is proposed by a facile method. A self‐floating solar evaporator made of carbonized pencil wastes can achieve an evaporation rate of 1.2 kg m−2 h−1 and a light‐to‐vapor energy conversion efficiency of 82.2% under 1.0 sun. Meanwhile, the evaporator exhibits a self‐desalting property overnight due to its superior hydrophilicity. Furthermore, the evaporator manifests significantly effective solar evaporation performance in brine, organic dye solutions, as well as other harsh conditions. Considering the wide range of raw sources, low cost, scalable preparation, and effective solar evaporation performance, the all wood waste–based solar steam generator provides an inspiration for the recycling utilization of wood wastes and the promising development of environmentally friendly biomass‐based solar evaporators.

show abstract

Photothermal materials: A key platform enabling highly efficient water evaporation driven by solar energy

Cited by 273 publications

References 250 publications

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Air Cooling for Photovoltaic Panels Using Aluminum Heat Sinks

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Air Cooling for Photovoltaic Panels Using Aluminum Heat Sinks

Coupling of Hierarchical Al2O3/TiO2 Nanofibers into 3D Photothermal Aerogels Toward Simultaneous Water Evaporation and Purification

Turning Trash into Treasure: Pencil Waste–Derived Materials for Solar‐Powered Water Evaporation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About