Plasmonic Titanium Nitride Nano-enabled Membranes with High Structural Stability for Efficient Photothermal...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising desalination technology.
• Conventional MD requires significant energy input for bulk feed water heating.
• Developing efficient solar-driven desalination methods is crucial for sustainable water management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the desalination performance of a solar-driven membrane distillation (MD) process utilizing plasmonic titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiN NPs).
• To investigate the localized heating effect of TiN NPs on membrane surfaces for enhanced MD operation.
• To evaluate the solar-thermal efficiency and mechanical stability of the engineered TiN photothermal membrane.

Main Methods:

• Immobilization of TiN NPs on a hydrophobic membrane to create a photothermal membrane.
• Utilizing solar irradiation for localized heating at the feed-membrane interface.
• Measuring vapor flux and calculating solar-thermal efficiency under simulated solar irradiance.

Main Results:

• Achieved an average vapor flux of 1.01 L m^-2 h^-1 without auxiliary feed heating.
• Demonstrated a high solar-thermal efficiency of 66.7% under 1 sun solar irradiance.
• Confirmed high mechanical stability of the TiN photothermal coating during long-term operation.

Conclusions:

• The TiN photothermal membrane enables efficient solar-driven MD by localized interfacial water heating.
• Broadband optical absorption and light-to-heat conversion of TiN NPs enhance vapor transport.
• This approach offers a stable, cost-effective, and scalable pathway for solar desalination applications.