All-regional highly efficient moisture capturing and sunlight driven steam generation
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Updated: May 24, 2025

Coupling Carbon Capture from a Power Plant with Semi-automated Open Raceway Ponds for Microalgae Cultivation
Published on: August 14, 2020
Wenxin Lu1, Xiaorui Li1, Yingqi Wang1
1School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212100, PR China; Institute of Biopharmaceutical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, PR China.
Abstract:
Utilizing solar energy to extract and purify potable water from atmospheric humidity offers a viable approach to combat water scarcity in diverse geographical areas. However, current technologies face challenges related to low efficiency due to the low intrinsic permeability and weak hydrophilicity of H2O, followed by ineffectiveness in diverse climatic conditions and long-lasting implementation. Herein, we develop a highly hygroscopic photothermal hydrogels consisting of chitosan polypyrrole (CP) copolymer matrix and zinc ions (Zn2+). The chelation of Zn2+ with CP avoids ionic leakage and endows the hierarchically porous hydrogel with strong hydration and moisture-absorbing properties. These hydrogels achieve an effective moisture capturing of up to 6.53 g g-1 in a wide humidity range of 30% to 90%, which are the reminiscence of environment including desert and lakes. Furthermore, the grafting of photothermal polypyrrole to chitosan allowed the sunlight-driven steam generation with 87% efficiency of solar energy without additional power input. The recyclable moisture adsorption and desorption procedures maintain without observable deduction in efficiency over 2 weeks. A potable device containing our sunlight-driven antibacterial hydrogels displays the production of 1.3 kg m-2 drinkable water per day, sufficient to meet the needs of a household. Its potential for application across diverse climatic conditions could refine water harvesting practices and guide future research on system optimization and scalability.
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