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Sponge-like PAM/PANI composite hydrogel evaporator for high-efficiency solar-driven Interface water evaporation
Zijing Huang1, Yuqi Wang1, Yan Wang2
1College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110189, People's Republic of China.
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
|March 21, 2026
Summary
This study introduces a novel sponge-like hydrogel evaporator for efficient solar-driven water purification. The developed polyacrylamide/polyaniline (PAM/PANI) composite hydrogel demonstrates high evaporation rates and stability for desalination and wastewater treatment.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Environmental Science
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is a promising technology for addressing freshwater scarcity.
- Current challenges include fabricating efficient, stable, and cost-effective evaporators.
- Efficient water supply and vapor generation are critical for practical applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a sponge-like composite hydrogel interfacial evaporator with enhanced performance.
- To investigate the role of cononsolvency photopolymerization and in-situ oxidative polymerization in evaporator design.
- To explore the potential of 3D printing for advanced evaporator architectures.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel using cononsolvency photopolymerization.
- In-situ oxidative polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) within the PAM matrix.
- Integration of cononsolvency photopolymerization with Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing.
- Characterization of hydrogel structure, photothermal properties, and evaporation performance.
Main Results:
- The PAM/PANI hydrogel exhibited a sponge-like porous structure facilitating efficient water transport.
- Optimized hydrogel achieved a solar evaporation rate of 2.15 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and 96% energy efficiency.
- 3D-printed PAM/PANI evaporators with conical arrays reached 3.73 kg m⁻² h⁻¹.
- The evaporators demonstrated excellent salt resistance and long-term operational stability.
Conclusions:
- The developed sponge-like PAM/PANI hydrogel is a highly efficient and stable interfacial evaporator.
- 3D printing enables advanced architectures for further enhancing solar evaporation performance.
- The technology shows significant potential for sustainable desalination and wastewater treatment.
