Issue 9, 2024

Boron nanosheets boosting solar thermal water evaporation

Abstract

Hydrogel-based solar vapour generators (SVGs) are promising for wastewater treatment and desalination. The performance of SVG systems is governed by solar thermal conversion and water management. Progress has been made in achieving high energy conversion efficiency, but the water evaporation rates are still unsatisfactory under 1 sun irradiation. This study introduced novel two-dimensional (2D) boron nanosheets as additives into hydrogel-based SVGs. The resulting SVGs exhibit an outstanding evaporation rate of 4.03 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 sun irradiation. This significant improvement is attributed to the 2D boron nanosheets, which leads to the formation of a higher content of intermediate water and reduced water evaporation enthalpy to 845.11 kJ kg−1. The SVGs into which boron nanosheets were incorporated also showed high salt resistance and durability, demonstrating their great potential for desalination applications.

Graphical abstract: Boron nanosheets boosting solar thermal water evaporation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Ker. 2023
Accepted
28 Gen. 2024
First published
29 Gen. 2024

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 4628-4636

Boron nanosheets boosting solar thermal water evaporation

X. S. Zhang, S. Mao, J. Wang, C. Onggowarsito, A. Feng, R. Han, H. Liu, G. Zhang, Z. Xu, L. Yang, Q. Fu and Z. Huang, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 4628 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR06146A

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