Extremely Cost‐Effective and Efficient Solar Vapor Generation under Nonconcentrated Illumination Using Thermally Isolated Black Paper

Zhejun Liu; Haomin Song; Dengxin Ji; Chenyu Li; Alec Cheney; Youhai Liu; Nan Zhang; Xie Zeng; Borui Chen; Jun Gao; Xiang Liu; Diana Aga; Suhua Jiang; Zongfu Yu; Qiaoqiang Gan

doi:10.1002/gch2.201600003

journal article Open Access Jan 30, 2017

Extremely Cost‐Effective and Efficient Solar Vapor Generation under Nonconcentrated Illumination Using Thermally Isolated Black Paper

Zhejun Liu Haomin Song Dengxin Ji Chenyu Li

Alec Cheney Youhai Liu Nan Zhang

Xie Zeng Borui Chen Jun Gao

Xiang Liu

Diana Aga Suhua Jiang Zongfu Yu Qiaoqiang Gan

Global Challenges Vol. 1 No. 2 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/gch2.201600003

Abstract

Passive solar vapor generation represents a promising and environmentally benign method of water purification/desalination. However, conventional solar steam generation techniques usually rely on costly and cumbersome optical concentration systems and have relatively low efficiency due to bulk heating of the entire liquid volume. Here, an efficient strategy using extremely low‐cost materials, i.e., carbon black (powder), hydrophilic porous paper, and expanded polystyrene foam is reported. Due to the excellent thermal insulation between the surface liquid and the bulk volume of the water and the suppressed radiative and convective losses from the absorber surface to the adjacent heated vapor, a record thermal efficiency of ≈88% is obtained under 1 sun without concentration, corresponding to the evaporation rate of 1.28 kg (m2 h)−1. When scaled up to a 100 cm2 array in a portable solar water still system and placed in an outdoor environment, the freshwater generation rate is 2.4 times of that of a leading commercial product. By simultaneously addressing both the need for high‐efficiency operation as well as production cost limitations, this system can provide an approach for individuals to purify water for personal needs, which is particularly suitable for undeveloped regions with limited/no access to electricity.

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References

Details

Published: Jan 30, 2017
Vol/Issue: 1(2)
License: View

Authors

Z

Zhejun Liu

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA; Department of Materials Science Fudan University Shanghai 200433 China

H

Haomin Song

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

D

Dengxin Ji

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

C

Chenyu Li

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

A

Alec Cheney

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

Y

Youhai Liu

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

N

Nan Zhang

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

X

Xie Zeng

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

B

Borui Chen

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

J

Jun Gao

Department of Materials Science Fudan University Shanghai 200433 China

X

Xiang Liu

Department of Environmental Science and Engineering Fudan University Shanghai 200433 China

D

Diana Aga

Department of Chemistry The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

S

Suhua Jiang

Department of Materials Science Fudan University Shanghai 200433 China

Z

Zongfu Yu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Wisconsin Madison WI 53705 USA

Q

Qiaoqiang Gan

Department of Electrical Engineering The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo NY 14260 USA

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China Award: CMMI1562057

China Scholarship Council

Cite This Article

Zhejun Liu, Haomin Song, Dengxin Ji, et al. (2017). Extremely Cost‐Effective and Efficient Solar Vapor Generation under Nonconcentrated Illumination Using Thermally Isolated Black Paper. Global Challenges, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.201600003

Extremely Cost‐Effective and Efficient Solar Vapor Generation under Nonconcentrated Illumination Using Thermally Isolated Black Paper

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