Salt-resistant hierarchically porous wood sponge coated with graphene flake/polyaniline nanocomposite for interfacial solar steam production and wastewater treatment
Masoomeh Shafaee , Elaheh K. Goharshadi , Hassan Behnejad
{"title":"Salt-resistant hierarchically porous wood sponge coated with graphene flake/polyaniline nanocomposite for interfacial solar steam production and wastewater treatment","authors":"Masoomeh Shafaee , Elaheh K. Goharshadi , Hassan Behnejad","doi":"10.1016/j.solener.2024.112707","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This research presents an innovative approach for developing a flexible wood sponge (WS) with a hierarchically porous structure. This unique structure is achieved through a sequential process involving balsa wood delignification, freeze-drying, and subsequent coating with graphene flake (GF)/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposite. The resulting GF/PANI nanocomposite significantly reduces electron transfer resistivity, thereby enhancing heat generation for water evaporation. This results in self-cleaning photoabsorber, benefiting from GF’s salt-rejecting properties, PANI’s ionic network, and the WS’s porous structure. The photoabsorber demonstrates improved mechanical strength, reduced thermal conductivity, and a single water route design atop a drilled insulator foam, effectively minimizing heat loss during solar desalination. Under 1 sun (1 sun = 1 kW m<sup>−2</sup>) illumination, the photoabsorber achieves an impressive evaporation flux of 1.49 kg m<sup>−2</sup>h<sup>−1</sup> and a high solar to thermal efficiency of 95.51 %. Importantly, continuous 10-cycle testing under 1 sun illumination reveals no salt deposition on the surface. Furthermore, the photoabsorber demonstrates promising applications in wastewater treatment, effectively purifying dye-contaminated seawater and desalinating both acidic and alkaline seawater. The investigation into the GF/PANI nanocomposite’s effect on steam generation, conducted through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a 0.5 M Na<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> electrolyte, reveals enhanced interfacial charge transfer, surpassing both PANI and GF due to reduced electrochemical resistance. Evaluation of desalinated seawater and purified wastewater demonstrates a significant decrease in major cation concentrations, meeting WHO and EPA drinking water standards. These findings underscore the potential of the GF/PANI nanocomposite in superior steam generation applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":428,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Solar Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X2400402X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This research presents an innovative approach for developing a flexible wood sponge (WS) with a hierarchically porous structure. This unique structure is achieved through a sequential process involving balsa wood delignification, freeze-drying, and subsequent coating with graphene flake (GF)/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposite. The resulting GF/PANI nanocomposite significantly reduces electron transfer resistivity, thereby enhancing heat generation for water evaporation. This results in self-cleaning photoabsorber, benefiting from GF’s salt-rejecting properties, PANI’s ionic network, and the WS’s porous structure. The photoabsorber demonstrates improved mechanical strength, reduced thermal conductivity, and a single water route design atop a drilled insulator foam, effectively minimizing heat loss during solar desalination. Under 1 sun (1 sun = 1 kW m−2) illumination, the photoabsorber achieves an impressive evaporation flux of 1.49 kg m−2h−1 and a high solar to thermal efficiency of 95.51 %. Importantly, continuous 10-cycle testing under 1 sun illumination reveals no salt deposition on the surface. Furthermore, the photoabsorber demonstrates promising applications in wastewater treatment, effectively purifying dye-contaminated seawater and desalinating both acidic and alkaline seawater. The investigation into the GF/PANI nanocomposite’s effect on steam generation, conducted through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a 0.5 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, reveals enhanced interfacial charge transfer, surpassing both PANI and GF due to reduced electrochemical resistance. Evaluation of desalinated seawater and purified wastewater demonstrates a significant decrease in major cation concentrations, meeting WHO and EPA drinking water standards. These findings underscore the potential of the GF/PANI nanocomposite in superior steam generation applications.
期刊介绍:
Solar Energy welcomes manuscripts presenting information not previously published in journals on any aspect of solar energy research, development, application, measurement or policy. The term "solar energy" in this context includes the indirect uses such as wind energy and biomass