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Journal of Materials Science and Nanotechnology | Volume 3
October 07-08, 2019 | Frankfurt, Germany
Materials Science and Engineering
3
rd
International Conference on
Mater Sci Nanotechnol, Volume 3
Photothermal materials for onsite water harvesting from unconventional sources
Siew Leng Loo
Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
T
he accelerated increase in freshwater demand highlights
the urgency in creating alternative water sources to
meet the ever-increasing need for increased water supply.
This is particularly critical for populations displaced in
remote locations where conventional water sources and the
infrastructure required to produce potable water may be
intermittentlyorcompletelyabsent.Therefore,infrastructure-
independent water technologies that are low-cost, robust
with simple operations are sought. In this presentation, we
highlightastandalone3Dphotothermalfoamthatcanbeused
to generate potable water from seawater and atmospheric
moisture via interfacial solar evaporation. Specifically, the
foam showed a remarkable specific evaporation rate of 11.4
kg m-2 h-1 g-1 with an energy efficiency of 92.7%. Due to the
presence of hydrophilic domains within the foam, they can
also be employed to capture and store water (both liquid
and vapor) that can then be harvested via solar evaporation;
the average amount of absorbed water vapor and liquid
water harvested for each cycle were 250-1770 mg H2O per
g of dry foam. The high evaporation efficiency combined
with the versatility of the foam in harvesting water from
varying sources enable them to produce potable water under
circumstances where there is a high level of uncertainty
associated with the availability and quality of water such as in
the aftermath of a disaster. Considering the lightweight of the
foam (bulk density of 0.2 g cm-3), they could offer a simple
solution that can be rapidly deployed to produce potable
water for short-term sustenance in acute emergencies.
e
:
sie.loo@iat.it