In situ MIL-101 growth on cotton cloth to fabricate multifunctional phase change composites driven by solar and magneto-thermal for all-day desalination

Abstract

It is certainly one of the most feasible ways to extract fresh water from seawater in the face of the current depletion of fresh water resources. Although solar energy as a heat source for desalination is the cleanest and most abundant way, its intermittent and seasonal also poses an obstacle to its practical application. In order to solve the above-mentioned issues, we prepared a series of phase change composites (PCCs) with excellent light-absorbing and magnetic properties by growing MIL-101(Fe) in situ on cotton fabric. All-day desalination through the synergistic action of phase change material (PCM) and magnetic particles. The evaporation rate of PCC can reach 2.76 kg m−2h−1 with an evaporation efficiency of 90.19 % under one sunlight condition. The evaporation rate of sea water under the synergistic effect of magnetic particles and PCM reached 4.53 kg m−2h−1 in the absence of sunlight. This paper provides a new approach to all-day desalination without contact heating.