Abstract
Recently, steam generation systems based on solar-thermal conversion have received much interest, and this may be due to the widespread use of solar energy and water sources such as oceans and lakes. The photo-thermal desalination system becomes attractive as it can convert absorbed solar light energy into thermal energy and realise the desalination and water purification of saline water through the evaporation process. In this paper, the research status of solar-thermal conversion materials such as metal-based materials, semiconductor materials, carbon-base materials, organic polymer materials, composite photo-thermal materials and their solar-thermal conversion mechanism in recent years are reviewed. The physical process and evaluation principle of solar-thermal conversion are both carefully introduced. The methods of optimising thermal management and increasing the evaporation rate of a hybrid system are also introduced in detail. Four main applications of solar-thermal conversion technologies (seawater desalination, wastewater purification, sterilisation and power generation) are discussed. Finally, based on the above analysis, the prospects and challenges for future research in the field of desalination are discussed from an engineering and scientific viewpoint to promote the direction of research, in order to stimulate future development and accelerate commercial application.
Highlights
Solar energy is a green, stable and universal source of renewable energy, with wide spectrum and broad area characteristics [1]
Solar-thermal conversion and steam generation (SCSG) is the most direct utilisation method, and this has been widely used in fields such as photo-thermal power generation [12], photo-thermal energy storage [13], seawater desalination [14] and sewage treatment [15]
Solar-thermal conversion mechanism is a major part in solar-thermal conversion and steam generation (SCSG) research, with the main purpose of improving light absorption efficiency, as well as involving water delivery and heat losses [41,42]
Summary
Solar energy is a green, stable and universal source of renewable energy, with wide spectrum and broad area characteristics [1]. In recent years, pioneering works of SCSG from Chen et al [22] and Halas et al [23] on low light intensity have attracted widespread attention due to their high efficiency and low cost Their method, which can be called equilibrium evaporation, has become an essential topic for harvesting solar energy, and it is suitable for the application and establishment of seawater resource separation to meet the needs of domestic and industrial water in places with abundant solar energy [24]. High-quality solar absorbed materials are characterised by a wide absorption spectrum range, high solar-thermal conversion efficiency, low cost, strong surface hydrophilicity, multi-pore structure, good self-floating property and independent incident direction of light source [29] They exhibit good application prospects in desalination and saltwater treatment [30]. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the research literature on high-efficiency SCSG in recent years, and to provide new research ideas for the development and application of highly-efficient SCSG in the future
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