Spatially regulated water-heat transport by fluidic diode membrane for efficient solar-powered desalination and electricity generation

IF 14.7 1区综合性期刊 Q1 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Nature Communications Pub Date : 2025-05-30 DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-60283-6

Yuanhang Cao, Jiemin Wang, Weixin Guan, Meng An, Peng Yan, Zhengtong Li, Changsheng Zhao, Guihua Yu

{"title":"Spatially regulated water-heat transport by fluidic diode membrane for efficient solar-powered desalination and electricity generation","authors":"Yuanhang Cao, Jiemin Wang, Weixin Guan, Meng An, Peng Yan, Zhengtong Li, Changsheng Zhao, Guihua Yu","doi":"10.1038/s41467-025-60283-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Interfacial solar-driven evaporation has attracted great research interests, given its high conversion efficiency of solar energy and transformative industrial potential for desalination. However, current evaporators with porous volume remain critical challenges by inherently balancing efficient fluid transport and effective heat localization. Herein, we propose the strategy and design of lightweight, flexible and monolayered fluidic diode membrane-based evaporators, featuring regularly arrayed macropores and dense nanopores on each side. Such a delicate microstructure offers universality in establishing asymmetric channels along macroporous-to-nanoporous to enable the diode-like directional water transport as well as facilitate the heat localization on the nanopores side. Consequently, a high evaporation rate of a maximum 3.82 kg m−2 h−1 can be achieved under 1 sun illumination, exceeding most 2D and 3D evaporators. Besides, the durability and practicability of our evaporators are validated through salt resistance tests, purification experiments among various contaminants, and outdoor evaluations. Moreover, the structure engineering and water-transport optimization of fluidic diode membranes also offer potentials for hydrovoltaic applications, with over 1.6 V generated by tandem devices at the ambient environment. This work provides a concept for designing high-performance monolayered membranes applicable in environmental and energy-related realms.","PeriodicalId":19066,"journal":{"name":"Nature Communications","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Communications","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60283-6","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Interfacial solar-driven evaporation has attracted great research interests, given its high conversion efficiency of solar energy and transformative industrial potential for desalination. However, current evaporators with porous volume remain critical challenges by inherently balancing efficient fluid transport and effective heat localization. Herein, we propose the strategy and design of lightweight, flexible and monolayered fluidic diode membrane-based evaporators, featuring regularly arrayed macropores and dense nanopores on each side. Such a delicate microstructure offers universality in establishing asymmetric channels along macroporous-to-nanoporous to enable the diode-like directional water transport as well as facilitate the heat localization on the nanopores side. Consequently, a high evaporation rate of a maximum 3.82 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ can be achieved under 1 sun illumination, exceeding most 2D and 3D evaporators. Besides, the durability and practicability of our evaporators are validated through salt resistance tests, purification experiments among various contaminants, and outdoor evaluations. Moreover, the structure engineering and water-transport optimization of fluidic diode membranes also offer potentials for hydrovoltaic applications, with over 1.6 V generated by tandem devices at the ambient environment. This work provides a concept for designing high-performance monolayered membranes applicable in environmental and energy-related realms.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

利用流体二极管膜进行空间调节的水热传输，用于高效的太阳能脱盐和发电

界面太阳能蒸发由于其太阳能转换效率高和在海水淡化方面具有变革性的工业潜力而引起了广泛的研究兴趣。然而，目前具有多孔体积的蒸发器仍然面临着严峻的挑战，因为它固有地平衡了高效的流体输送和有效的热局部化。在此，我们提出了轻量化、柔性和单层流体二极管膜蒸发器的设计策略，该蒸发器具有规则排列的大孔和密集的纳米孔。这种精致的微观结构为沿着大孔到纳米孔建立不对称通道提供了通用性，从而实现了类似二极管的定向水输送，并促进了纳米孔侧的热定位。因此，在1个太阳照射下，蒸发速率最高可达3.82 kg m−2 h−1，超过大多数2D和3D蒸发器。此外，我们的蒸发器的耐用性和实用性通过耐盐性测试，各种污染物净化实验和户外评估验证。此外，流体二极管膜的结构工程和输水优化也为水电应用提供了潜力，串联装置在环境环境下产生超过1.6 V的电压。这项工作为设计适用于环境和能源相关领域的高性能单层膜提供了一个概念。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Nature Communications Biological Science Disciplines-

CiteScore

24.90

自引率

2.40%

发文量

6928

审稿时长

3.7 months

期刊介绍： Nature Communications, an open-access journal, publishes high-quality research spanning all areas of the natural sciences. Papers featured in the journal showcase significant advances relevant to specialists in each respective field. With a 2-year impact factor of 16.6 (2022) and a median time of 8 days from submission to the first editorial decision, Nature Communications is committed to rapid dissemination of research findings. As a multidisciplinary journal, it welcomes contributions from biological, health, physical, chemical, Earth, social, mathematical, applied, and engineering sciences, aiming to highlight important breakthroughs within each domain.