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Zhu Z, Xu J, Liang Y, Luo X, Chen J, Yang Z, He J, Chen Y. Bioinspired Solar-Driven Osmosis for Stable High Flux Desalination. Environ Sci Technol 2024; 58:3800-3811. [PMID: 38350025 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c08848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
The growing global water crisis necessitates sustainable desalination solutions. Conventional desalination technologies predominantly confront environmental issues such as high emissions from fossil-fuel-driven processes and challenges in managing brine disposal during the operational stages, emphasizing the need for renewable and environmentally friendly alternatives. This study introduces and assesses a bioinspired, solar-driven osmosis desalination device emulating the natural processes of mangroves with effective contaminant rejection and notable productivity. The bioinspired solar-driven osmosis (BISO) device, integrating osmosis membranes, microporous absorbent paper, and nanoporous ceramic membranes, was evaluated under different conditions. We conducted experiments in both controlled and outdoor settings, simulating seawater with a 3.5 wt % NaCl solution. With a water yield of 1.51 kg m-2 h-1 under standard solar conditions (one sun), the BISO system maintained excellent salt removal and accumulation resistance after up to 8 h of experiments and demonstrated great cavitation resistance even at 58.14 °C. The outdoor test recorded a peak rate of 1.22 kg m-2 h-1 and collected 16.5 mL in 8 h, showing its practical application potential. These results highlight the BISO device's capability to address water scarcity using a sustainable approach, combining bioinspired design with solar power, presenting a viable pathway in renewable-energy-driven desalination technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zihao Zhu
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jianwei Xu
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Yingzong Liang
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Matter, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Xianglong Luo
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Matter, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jianyong Chen
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Matter, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Zhi Yang
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Matter, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jiacheng He
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Matter, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Ying Chen
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
- Guangdong Province Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Matter, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
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Shi W, Vieitez JR, Berrier AS, Roseveare MW, Surinach DA, Srijanto BR, Collier CP, Boreyko JB. Self-Stabilizing Transpiration in Synthetic Leaves. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2019; 11:13768-13776. [PMID: 30912914 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b00041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Over the past decade, synthetic trees have been engineered to mimic the transpiration cycle of natural plants, but the leaves are prone to dry out beneath a critical relative humidity. Here, we create large-area synthetic leaves whose transpiration process is remarkably stable over a wide range of humidities, even without synthetic stomatal chambers atop the nanopores of the leaf. While the water menisci cannot initially withstand the Kelvin stress of the subsaturated air, they self-stabilized by locally concentrating vapor within the top layers of nanopores that have dried up. Transpiration rates were found to vary nonmonotonically with the ambient humidity because of the tradeoff of dry air increasing the retreat length of the menisci. It is our hope that these findings will encourage the development of large-area synthetic trees that exhibit excellent stability and high throughput for water-harvesting applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Bernadeta R Srijanto
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences , Oak Ridge National Laboratory , Oak Ridge , Tennessee 37831 , United States
| | - C Patrick Collier
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences , Oak Ridge National Laboratory , Oak Ridge , Tennessee 37831 , United States
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