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Self-cleaning solar water evaporation device based on polyaniline/TiO2/natural cellulose fibers for contaminant water

基于聚苯胺/二氧化钛/天然纤维素的污水自清洁太阳能水蒸发装置

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Abstract

Wastewater accounts for a large part of the water body on the earth. Solar water evaporation is an effective way to produce fresh water from seawater or polluted water. However, the co-evaporation or deposition of contaminants may reduce the efficiency and freshwater quality during water evaporation. In this work, a self-cleaning solar water evaporator is developed based on the natural lignocellulose fibers (NCF), polyaniline (PANI), and TiO2, which shows great advantages of wide-range light absorption, super hydrophilicity, and low thermal conductivity. Nanofibrous PANI is polymerized on the surface of NCF to form a mesoporous network by adding the NCF to the polymerization solution. P25 TiO2 nanoparticles as photocatalysts are dispersed into the above reaction to form the hybrid PANI/TiO2/NCF composite disc by simply filtration. Owing to the synergistic effect between the photothermal PANI and the photocatalytic degradation of TiO2 nanoparticles in the solar water evaporator device, the water evaporation rate can reach 2.36 kg m−2 h−1 (under 1 sun irradiation), and the contaminant (100 ppm tetracycline) can be efficiently degraded. Interestingly, the solar water evaporator device still maintains a constant solar evaporation rate after working for 10 h, and no contaminant is accumulated. The bifunctional solar water evaporation device, which combines photocatalytic and photothermal effects, has great potential application in organic contaminant water with a self-cleaning effect.

摘要

水体污染是当前造成淡水短缺的主要原因之一. 利用太阳能水蒸发装置从海水或污水中生产淡水是一种简单有效且节能的解决淡水危机的方式, 引起了广泛的关注. 然而, 污染物的共同蒸发或沉积可能会降低水蒸发过程中的效率和淡水质量. 本文基于天然木质纤维素(NCF)、聚苯胺(PANI)和二氧化钛(TiO2)开发了自清洁太阳能水蒸发器, 其具有宽吸收、亲水性强、导热系数低等优点. 通过在聚合物溶液中加入木质纤维素, 聚苯胺纳米纤维在NCF表面聚合形成介孔网络.P25 TiO2纳米颗粒作为光催化剂分散到上述反应液中, 通过简单的过滤形成PANI/TiO2/NCF复合材料. 由于太阳水蒸发器装置中PANI的光热效应与TiO2纳米颗粒的光催化降解的协同作用, 水蒸发速率可达2.36 kg m−2h−1 (1个太阳光照射下), 且可有效降解污染物(100 ppm四环素). 更重要的是, 在工作10 h后, 该太阳能水蒸发器装置仍然保持稳定的水蒸发速率, 且没有污染物的积聚. 光催化和光热效应相结合的双功能太阳能水蒸发装置在有机污染物水中具有自清洁作用, 具有很大的应用潜力.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21872001, 51801006, 21805004, and 21671011), Beijing Municipal High Level Innovative Team Building Program (IDHT20180504), Beijing Outstanding Young Scientists Program (BJJWZYJH01201910005017), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (2192005), and Beijing Municipal Science and Natural Science Fund Project (KM201910005016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Excellence for Environmental Safety and Biological Effects, Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Wenning Liu  (刘文宁), Pengfei Li  (李鹏飞), Xiangqin Li  (李湘勤), Yaqian He  (何亚倩), Li An  (安丽), Dan Qu  (曲丹), Xiayan Wang  (汪夏燕) & Zaicheng Sun  (孙再成)

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  1. Wenning Liu  (刘文宁)
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  2. Pengfei Li  (李鹏飞)
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  3. Xiangqin Li  (李湘勤)
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  4. Yaqian He  (何亚倩)
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  5. Li An  (安丽)
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  6. Dan Qu  (曲丹)
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  7. Xiayan Wang  (汪夏燕)
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  8. Zaicheng Sun  (孙再成)
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Contributions

Liu W and Sun Z designed the experiment. Liu W prepared the samples and performed the measurement and characterization with most of the analysis. All authors contributed to the discussion of the results. Liu W and Sun Z led the effort in the writing of the manuscript.

Additional information

Wenning Liu is a PhD student at Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology. Her current research interests focus on polymer-based solar evaporation devices.

Zaicheng Sun received his PhD degree in chemistry from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). After that, he started to work as an AvH research fellow at Marburg University in Germany, followed by research associate at UW, UDel, and UNM. He took the professor position at Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, CAS in 2010. He is currently a professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biology, Beijing University of Technology. His research focuses on the rational design of photocatalysts with high charge separation efficiency and fluorescent carbon dots with tunable emission and their applications.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Experimental details and supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

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Liu, W., Li, P., Li, X. et al. Self-cleaning solar water evaporation device based on polyaniline/TiO2/natural cellulose fibers for contaminant water. Sci. China Mater. 66, 1607–1614 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2282-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2282-9

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