Floating graphite felt-cellulose multilayer sandwich evaporator for solar salt-resistant seawater desalination: Mechanistic role of incorporated super water holding layer

Abstract

Solar-to-steam generation (SSG) for seawater desalination is emerging process which faces several technology challenges for successful scaling up. Floating solar-to-steam generation (SSG) sandwich-based systems using hydrophilic water bridges have been proved to be fascinating technology for seawater desalination. However, the mechanistic pathways of heat dissipation, mass diffusion and convection are still the key bottlenecks for reliable scaling up. To solve the heat loss and surface salt deactivation, we demonstrate herein the performance of novel SSG structure for seawater desalination via the incorporation of cellulosic sponge as water holder to play a role of water transit between hydrophilic bridge and the top surface. Two systems using low-cost materials were compared, namely graphite felt/hydrophilic paper/polystyrene (GF-HP-PS) and Graphite felt/Water receiver/hydrophilic paper/polystyrene (GF-HP-WR-PS). The process of heat generation and localization was maximum in the GF-WR-HP-PS system, reaching 68.2 °C under 0.5 sun. The photothermal conversion efficiency was found to be 92 and 114 % under 0.5 sun for GF-HP-PS and GF-HP-WR-PS, respectively. On top of that, GF-HP-WR-PS shows effective steadily salt rejection during the desalination of seawater. The WR layer plays a crucial role to govern the confined water, which boosts the dissolution of salt and its convection without significant heat downward convection. As a practical consideration, the cost of used components to fabricate this SSG system is very acceptable and without major restrictions.