Tree-Inspired Structurally Graded Aerogel with Synergistic Water,Salt,and Thermal Transport for High-Salinity Solar-Powered EvaporationOACSTPCDEI
Tree-Inspired Structurally Graded Aerogel with Synergistic Water,Salt,and Thermal Transport for High-Salinity Solar-Powered Evaporation
Solar-powered interfacial evaporation is an energy-efficient solution for water scarcity.It requires solar absorbers to facilitate upward water transport and limit the heat to the surface for efficient evaporation.Furthermore,downward salt ion transport is also desired to prevent salt accumulation.However,achieving simultaneously fast water uptake,downward salt transport,and heat localization is challenging due to highly coupled water,mass,and thermal transport.Here,we develop a structurally graded aerogel inspired by tree transport systems to col-lectively optimize water,salt,and thermal transport.The arched aerogel features root-like,fan-shaped microchannels for rapid water uptake and downward salt dif-fusion,and horizontally aligned pores near the surface for heat localization through maximizing solar absorption and minimizing conductive heat loss.These structural characteristics gave rise to consistent evaporation rates of 2.09 kg m-2 h-1 under one-sun illumination in a 3.5 wt％ NaCl solution for 7 days without degradation.Even in a high-salinity solution of 20 wt％ NaCl,the evapora-tion rates maintained stable at 1.94 kg m-2 h-1 for 8 h without salt crystal formation.This work offers a novel microstructural design to address the complex interplay of water,salt,and thermal transport.
Xiaomeng Zhao;Heng Zhang;Kit-Ying Chan;Xinyue Huang;Yunfei Yang;Xi Shen
Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong SAR,People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong SAR,People's Republic of China||Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong SAR,People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong SAR,People's Republic of China||Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong SAR,People's Republic of China||Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong SAR,People's Republic of China
Composite aerogelGraded structureSolar-powered evaporationThermal insulationSalt rejection
《纳微快报（英文）》 2024 (011)
19-37 / 19
This project was financially supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong SAR(16200720),Environment and Conservation Fund of Hong Kong SAR(Project No.21/2022),Young Scientists Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52303106),Research Institute for Advanced Manufucturing(Project No.CD8R),and the start-up fund for new recruits of PolyU(Project Nos.P0038855 and P0038858).The authors appreciate the assistance from Prof.Jinglei Yang and Prof.Baoling Huang at HKUST in measuring thermal conductivity and emissivity and simulation.
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