Issue 3, 2018

A facile nanocomposite strategy to fabricate a rGO–MWCNT photothermal layer for efficient water evaporation

Abstract

Solar-driven water evaporation assisted by photothermal membranes is considered as one of the sustainable and cost-effective strategies for pure water generation and wastewater treatment. Herein, we report a facile but effective approach to improve the photothermal performance by combining 2D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and 1D multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which have different nanomorphologies. The photothermal layer can be easily deposited on different substrate materials via simple vacuum assistance. Such a composite photothermal layer shows a rough surface with a controllable nano-structure, which can thus optimize solar light harvesting. On the other hand, the formation of a loose internal porous structure and suitable wettability ensure water transport inside the photothermal layer during evaporation. The surface temperature reaches as high as 78 °C even under one sun irradiation (1 kW m−2), which is 10 °C higher than the result of pure rGO membranes. When loaded on a PVDF substrate, the rGO–MWCNT based membrane is flexible and shows an obvious improvement in the evaporation rate, about 79.0% and 8.9% higher than those of pure rGO and MWCNT membranes, respectively. The solar thermal conversion efficiency can reach up to 80.4% without any extra accessory for thermal management. Based on our results, the nanocomposite strategy is facile and effective for the development of novel photothermal membranes for high-efficiency evaporation, and contributes to the widespread application in the fields of desalination and wastewater treatment.

Graphical abstract: A facile nanocomposite strategy to fabricate a rGO–MWCNT photothermal layer for efficient water evaporation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Oct 2017
Accepted
29 Nov 2017
First published
30 Nov 2017

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 963-971

A facile nanocomposite strategy to fabricate a rGO–MWCNT photothermal layer for efficient water evaporation

Y. Wang, C. Wang, X. Song, S. K. Megarajan and H. Jiang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 963 DOI: 10.1039/C7TA08972D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements