Enthalpy Of Vaporization Research Articles

Low Evaporation Enthalpy Ionic Covalent Organic Frameworks for Efficient Atmospheric Water Harvesting at Low Humidity

Herein, we introduce a series of ionic covalent organic frameworks (iCOFs) with a focus on addressing the challenge of water collection at low relative humidity levels below 25%. These iCOFs are characterized by numerous hydrophilic sites and high water stability, enabling efficient water vapor adsorption even at relatively low humidity levels. Through the use of various hygroscopic salt cations and precise control of ion concentration within the pores, the water state within the iCOFs pores can be effectively managed. Among the iCOFs, TB‐COF‐Li stands out with an impressive adsorption capacity of 0.24 g g‐1 from 0 to 22% RH. Notably, due to its ionic porous structure, TB‐COF‐Li exhibits a significantly lower enthalpy of evaporation, measured at 967.04 J g‐1, compared to bulk water with an enthalpy of 2387.4 J g‐1. Moreover, under simulated conditions of 1.5 solar intensity at 60 °C, the majority of the adsorbed water can be rapidly desorbed without the need for additional energy input. This efficient desorption process contributes to a high water collection rate of 0.092 g g‐1 h‐1 in the final atmospheric water harvesting device. The development of these iCOFs offers a promising and cost‐effective solution for obtaining fresh water in arid regions.

Rapid laser printing of cost-effective, scalable and flexible carbon-based fabrics for solar water evaporation

Solar interfacial evaporation represents a sustainable, cost-effective and carbon-neutral approach for freshwater scarcity. Nevertheless, most of the solar water evaporator face challenges related to scalability, flexibility and theoretical evaporation limit. Moreover, the poor stability in harsh water environments and high-cost of evaporators significantly restrict their industrial potential. The simultaneous optimization of high evaporation rates, environmental resistance and economic viability in a single device remains a rare accomplishment. Herein, a large-area black toner-fiber (BTF) composite film was rapidly produced with laser printing technology. Benefiting from the high photoabsorption of carbon black particles and the abundance of hydrophilic sites within the fabric fibers, the solar-thermal conversion efficiency is increased from 12.0 % to 85.3 %, and the water evaporation enthalpy is reduced to 1849.8 J g−1. The BTF-based evaporator possesses an evaporation rate of high as 1.51 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun. Furthermore, the evaporator also exhibits excellent properties on desalination and removal of organic pollutants, with an ion removal rate of ≈100 %. This design strategy for carbon-based evaporator offers a cost-effective, scalable alternative for tackling drinkable-water scarcity.

Making Interfacial Solar Evaporation of Seawater Faster than Fresh Water.

Interfacial solar evaporation-based seawater desalination is regarded as one of the most promising strategies to alleviate freshwater scarcity. However, the solar evaporation rate of real seawater is significantly constricted by the ubiquitous salts present in seawater. In addition to the common issue of salt accumulation on the evaporation surface during solar evaporation, strong hydration between salt ions and water molecules leads to a lower evaporation rate for real seawater compared to pure water. Here a facile and general strategy is developed to reverse this occurrence, that is, making real seawater evaporation faster than pure water. By simply introducing specific mineral materials into the floating photothermal evaporator, ion exchange at air-water interfaces directly results in a decrease in seawater evaporation enthalpy, and consequently achieves much higher seawater evaporation rates compared to pure water. This process is spontaneously realized during seawater solar evaporation. Considering the current enormous clean water production from evaporation-based desalination plants, such an evaporation performance improvement can remarkably increase annual clean water production, benefiting millions of people worldwide.

Advanced plasma hydrogel evaporator for efficient solar-driven saline-alkaline water treatment and agricultural application

Saline-alkaline land significantly impedes social development and urgently requires effective solutions. Solar-driven interfacial evaporation provides a promising green alternative to address this challenge. In this work, a high-efficiency plasma hydrogel evaporator (PHE) was crosslinked by liquid phase pulsed discharge plasma (LPDP) technology within 10 min, followed by a simple freeze–thaw process. The PHE demonstrates remarkable performance in treating saline-alkaline water. Under one solar irradiation, the PHE achieved an evaporation rate of 2.68 kg·m−2·h−1 in saline-alkaline water with high salinity stress (150 mmol·L−1, Na+ concentration). The collected purified water (PW) showed a reduction in total dissolved solids by three orders of magnitude and a significant elimination of alkalinity. To further evaluate the feasibility of utilizing saline-alkaline water resources with the PHE technology, PW was used for maize cultivation, demonstrating a favorable growth trend. Additionally, PHE effectively addressed the limitations of complex fabrication processes and high evaporation enthalpy associated with traditional evaporators. The work offers a cost-effective and promising approach for freshwater shortages, soil salinization, and saline-alkaline water treatment in challenging environments, contributing to sustainable agricultural development.

Portable dual-functional hygroscopic device for efficient atmospheric water harvesting and hydrogen production in diverse environments

Developing integrated functional atmospheric water harvesting and hydrogen production devices based on cost-effective porous carbon materials is crucial for advancing their implementation and addressing multiple environmental challenges. Here, we fabricate a dual-functional hygroscopic composite device (HCD) under mild conditions, capable of obtaining clean water and hydrogen using sunlight and atmospheric moisture. The hierarchical HCD is designed as an ideal solar absorber by incorporating polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel into macroporous carbon and hosting dispersed LiCl and NiCoP10 catalyst. The HCD features hygroscopic and dual-functional photothermal interfaces with kinetic differentiation, exhibiting excellent machinability, high light absorptivity, optimized hygroscopic components, and favorable water evaporation enthalpy. This design, combined with a customized strategy, ensures consistently efficient performance of HCD, achieving a notable daytime water production performance of 3.89 kg·m−2·d−1 at a low total cost of 27.68 $·kg−1·d. The HCD can catalyze ammonia borane hydrolysis to generate hydrogen in various environments including cold and water-scarce conditions. Furthermore, the HCD shows potential for hydrogen energy system, achieving an open circuit voltage output ranging from 0.41 to 0.493 V. The miniaturized HCD flexibly provides a comprehensive solution for water and energy applications in complex environments, with significant potential for widespread implementation.

Bioinspired Passive Cooling Hydrogel for Visualizing Hygroscopicity and Desorption Process

AbstractSelf‐hygroscopic hydrogels, characterized by high evaporation enthalpy, cooling efficiency, and self‐regulating properties, have garnered significant attention. However, most current research focuses on enhancing the hygroscopic and desorption performance, often overlooking the importance of monitoring the self‐regulation process, which limits its further application. Advanced visualization technologies, such as in situ electrical impedance tomography, low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance, and hyperspectral imaging, offer potential insights into this behavior, yet they often require additional devices, incur high costs, and involve complex sample preparation processes. Therefore, drawing inspiration from nature, humidity‐color‐sensitive hydrogels (HCSHs) strategy is proposed for visualized cooling. Benefiting from the strong polar responsiveness of the aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) molecules, the hydrogel's fluorescence significantly changes with varying interior water content, thereby its self‐regulation process is monitored easily. Further, the obtained hydrogel could be applied in the electronic device cooling owing to the polymer skeletons’ high swelling ratio, strong adhesion, and excellent self‐hygroscopic properties. This strategy overcomes current limitations in the visual technology of self‐hygroscopic materials and provides new insights into intelligent thermal management for electronic devices.

Surface patterned polyvinyl alcohol/CNT hydrogels for sustained solar powered high concentration brine desalination and salt harvesting

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is an attractive way to achieve water purification. However, high water evaporation rates often result in the precipitation of salt crystals on the surface of the evaporator leading to decay of the evaporation efficiency over time, which makes it difficult to balance high water evaporation rates with salt resistance. Herein, an anisotropic polyvinyl alcohol/CNT hydrogel is constructed by directional freezing and surface patterning. The polymer backbone formed by the polyvinyl alcohol chains interacts with the water clusters to reduce the evaporation enthalpy of water and the absorbed water can be released by squeezing the hydrogels due to the micron-sized vertically aligned pores. More importantly, by designing the structure of the hydrogels surface, the gas–liquid interface of the evaporators can be increased while the growth direction of the salt crystals can be controlled. As a result, the water evaporation rate can be increased from 3.26 kg m-2h−1 to 3.69 kg m-2h−1 under one sun irradiation through surface patterning. After 50 h of continuous operation in 10 wt% NaCl solution under one sun irradiation, the water evaporation rate gradually increases and a large amount of salt collection is collected, which proves its satisfactory salt resistance.

Hierarchical TiO2-coated metal-organic framework-derived carbon material for efficient co-generation of drinkable water and electricity

Co-generation of drinkable water and electricity through interface solar steam generation process is gradually becoming the preferred strategy to solve the current energy shortage and freshwater resources crisis. Inspired by the biological channel structures, flexible carbonized TiO2@Co-MOF nickel foam (CTCNF) based photothermal material with hierarchical nano-arrays structure is successfully fabricated on nickel foam surfaces by atomic layer deposition combined with an ingenious carbonization scheme, which endows CTCNF with combined excellent abilities including seawater desalination, evaporation-induced electricity generation, and wastewater purification, that is a three-in-one photothermal configuration. With the synergistic photothermal effect and hierarchical structure, CTCNF achieves a solar absorption efficiency of 93.65 %. Moreover, benefiting from its abundant oxygen- and nitrogen- containing functional groups, CTCNF not only possesses excellent hydrophilicity and salt resistance, but also reduces the water evaporation enthalpy (from 2453.3 J g−1 to 1378.6 J g−1). Importantly, combined with ingenious design of the evaporation device, CTCNF not only capture energy from environment during the evaporation process, with an evaporation rate of 3.60 kg m−2 h−1 and an evaporation efficiency of 109.9 % under 1 sun, but also obtains an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 151.15 mV. This enriches the design ideas of high-performance photothermal materials for efficient co-generation of drinkable water and electricity.

Hofmeister effect induced water activation of hydrogel and its applications for the accelerated solar evaporation in brine

Solar-driven desalination has emerged as a promising approach to address water scarcity caused by the decreasing supply of freshwater. Reducing the enthalpy of water vaporization is crucial for enhancing the efficiency of solar-powered desalination. In this study, inspired by the Hofmeister effect, we developed a highly hydratable network hydrogel evaporator to achieve a superior evaporation rate in brine compared with pure water. The evaporator comprised a carbonized layer as the photothermal layer and a chitosan aerogel hydrogel as the hydratable matrix. The hydrogel exhibited a dramatically reduced vaporization enthalpy of 1397 J/g and a significant evaporation rate of 2.38 kg m−2 h−1 when exposed to seawater. These results demonstrated the superior performance of hydrogel compared with pure water (1.91 kg m−2 h−1). Excellent evaporation rates and outstanding salt resistance ensured efficient coordination for practical long-term desalination applications. Further investigations revealed that the remarkable evaporation performance of the carbonized chitosan (CCS) hydrogel in brine environments was attributed to its hydrability, which was regulated by Cl−. According to the Hofmeister effect, Cl− accelerated the hydration chemistry in CCS and suppressed the associated crystallinity, which resulted in a lower enthalpy of vaporisation owing to a higher amount of intermediate water. With its superior evaporation performance in brine and comprehensive theoretical simulation analysis, this study presents an achievable and economical strategy for simultaneously addressing the water and energy crises.

Tree-like 3D GNP-rPN composite structure for solar-thermal evaporation and photocatalytic degradation of antibiotic wastewater

To realize high-yield and long-term purification of wastewater containing antibiotic ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CIP) and seawater, a tree-like 3D GNP-rPN solar-driven water evaporation and photocatalysis evaporator is developed by preparing and assembling GO/NPDI/PVA (GNP) hydrogel (canopy) and rGO/PU/NPDI (rPN) foam (trunk). The “tree-like” evaporation and photocatalysis evaporator design in this work has the following three characteristics: First of all, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets broaden the light absorption range of the photocatalyst perylene imide nanowires (NPDI), which facilitates absorption of more sunlight; secondly, GO and rGO adsorb pollutants in water and provide them to NPDI for catalytic degradation under sunlight irradiation because of their huge specific surface area; thirdly, the excellent photothermal conversion ability of GO and rGO converts solar energy into heat energy, thus facilitating the catalytic degradation of CIP by NPDI. Thanks to the reduced enthalpy of water evaporation by GNP hydrogel, the sufficient top-down water supply, the superior photocatalytic performance of NPDI nanowires, and the efficient solar light absorption and solar-thermal energy conversion of the GO sheets and NPDI nanowires, the resultant GNP-rPN evaporation and photocatalysis system achieves an average water evaporation rate of 2.84 kg m−2 h−1 and a CIP degradation efficiency of 74.04 % within 1 h under 1-sun irradiation. The GNP-rPN system exhibits an optimal degradation efficiency of 74.04 % for a CIP solution with an initial concentration of 10 mg/L within 1 h of irradiation, reaching a degradation efficiency of 96.37 % after 4 h, demonstrating its effectiveness in purifying antibiotic-laden wastewater.

Thermodynamics and kinetics of evaporation and thermal decomposition of 1-ethyl- and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate ionic liquids: Experimental and computational study

Knudsen cell mass spectrometry was used to study the evaporation of two ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate ([EtMIm][MS], MS = CH3SO3) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate ([BuMIm][MS]), accompanied by thermal decomposition (thermolysis). The independent occurrence of evaporation and thermolysis reactions made it possible to determine their thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics under identical experimental conditions. The saturated vapor pressures were measured and the standard enthalpies of vaporization of [EtMIm][MS](l) and [BuMIm][MS](l) were obtained. The standard thermodynamic functions of formation in the liquid and gaseous states at 298.15 K were estimated from the available experimental data and the results of quantum chemical calculations. The gaseous decomposition products of ionic liquids were identified and the pressures of the thermolysis products of [EtMIm][MS](l) were determined. According to the experimental data and quantum chemical calculations, the thermolysis of [EtMIm][MS](l) occurs through heterogeneous reactions far from the equilibrium state. The kinetics of the reactions is described in two ways. When the degree of sample conversion is used as a variable, the constant reaction rates at the initial stage of thermolysis correspond to a pseudo-zero order reaction with a monotonic increase in the degree of conversion. In the proposed alternative approach, the reaction rates are estimated from the fluxes of thermolysis products and are expressed in terms of ionic liquid concentration.

An orientational graphene/bamboo evaporator for efficient solar-powered steam generation and desalination

Solar-powered steam generation and desalination by interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) are promising techniques for addressing the freshwater shortage. However, the insufficient conversion efficiency and complex pollutant components confine its further extension and application. This study innovatively constructs an orientational graphene/bamboo evaporator (GBE), maintaining a solvent-accessible surface area and reducing vaporization enthalpy by selective delignification and torrefaction. The GBE device features a channel oriented from bamboo, consolidating the parallel architecture with multilayer biofilm filtration that guides efficient bulk-water pumping, steam release, and pollutant interception. The GBE demonstrates full-spectrum optical absorption at 90.5 % and 33.4 s response time while maintaining operational stability across different salt concentrations and natural water environments. The GBE achieved an evaporation rate of 1.53 kg m-2h-1as 4.34 enhancement factor under 1 kW/m−2(−|-) illumination, surpassing microplastics (99.84 %) and tetracycline (99.87 %) desalination. This work provides a high-performance and innovative approach to bamboo evaporator design, offering a viable and alternative method to address freshwater shortage.

Vaporization enthalpies of self-associated aromatic compounds at 298.15 K: A review of existing data and the features of heat capacity correction. Part III. Polyphenols, polyanilines and aminophenols

The experimental data on the phase transition enthalpies and heat capacities of numerous polyphenols, polyanilines and aminophenols in the condensed and ideal gas state were analyzed to obtain the reliable values at 298.15 K. For this purpose, we combined experimental data on the crystal, liquid, and ideal gas heat capacities and fusion, sublimation and vaporization enthalpies. Significant part of these data, including the ideal gas heat capacities of 16 molecules, vapor pressures and vaporization enthalpies of 1,3-diaminobenzene and 1,6-dihydroxynaphthalene, were obtained in this work. A modified approach for the estimation of the temperature dependence of vaporization enthalpies of polyphenols, polyanilines and aminophenols showing performance competitive with the experimental one was proposed based on the analysis performed.

Bifunctional Portable Powder for Freshwater Production With Moisture Harvesting and Undrinkable Water Purification.

Freshwater scarcity threatens human survival, particularly in extreme environments like deserts, oceans, and space. Compatible atmospheric water harvesting and undrinkable water purification offer an affordable approach to solving freshwater scarcity in these extreme environments. Nonetheless, developing composite sorbent to attain efficient atmospheric water harvesting and undrinkable water purification remains challenging. Hence, a portable hybrid hygroscopic powder (HLC powder) consisting of hydroxypropyl chitosan, dibenzaldehyde-functional poly(ethylene glycol), lithium chloride (LiCl), and nano carbon black is proposed. The HLC powder with optimized LiCl load can capture moisture from the air, showing a high water uptake of 1.76g g-1 at 34% relative humidity (RH) and appropriate over a wide humidity from 34% to 75% RH. pH-responsive sol-gel transition induced by Schiff base bonds transforms the HLC solution into hydrogel, inhibiting hydrated salt leakage. Meanwhile, to achieve efficient undrinkable water purification, the LiCl-free hybrid powder is utilized to convert the undrinkable water, including seawater, dye water, and human urine, to photothermal hydrogel evaporators with low evaporation enthalpies and high evaporation rates ranging from 1.81 to 2.05 kg m-2 h-1 under one sun. This strategy establishes a new path to conveniently obtaining freshwater, breaking hydrological restrictions.

Measuring the solubility of tacrolimus in supercritical carbon dioxide (binary and ternary systems), comparing the performance of machine learning models with conventional models

The solubility of tacrolimus in a supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) with and without co-solvent (ternary and binary system) was investigated. The experimental conditions include the temperatures of 308 to 338 K and the pressures of 12 to 30 MPa were considered. The values of tacrolimus solubilization in SC-CO2 in binary and ternary systems were from 0.416 × 10−5 to 1.589 × 10−5 and from 0.389 × 10−4 to 0.875 × 10−4, respectively. The obtained results presented that adding a co-solvent (ethanol) could affect tacrolimus solubility significantly, the mole fraction of tacrolimus in SC-CO2/co-solvent under all experimental conditions was at least 4.9 more than that of SC-CO2 alone. The correlation of the solubility data was achieved by three distinct methods: (1) SRK EoS with van der Waals (vdW2) and Wong-Sandler (WS) as mixing rules, (2) solution theory, (3) empirical and (4) machine learning based models. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed that Sparks et al. (AIC −817.05, and AARD 5.08 %) and Bian et al. (AIC −815.77 and AARD 5.17 %) models could correlate the experimental data of tacrolimus in SC-CO2 with more accuracy, as compared to the other empirical models. Sodeifian and Sajadian model with AARD% and AIC of 2.99 and −726.22, respectively, has acted as the most accurate empirical model in ternary system. The solution theory was able to calculate the solubility for the tacrolimus-SC-CO2-ethanol system with high accuracy (AARD, % 4.85, AIC −701.41, F value 169.70 and Radj 0.9622). Also, the Gradient Boosting model (AARD accurately predicted the outcomes with perfect accuracy for binary and ternary systems. Finally, total (ΔHtotal, 23.21 cal/mol), solvation (ΔHsol, −19.47 cal/mol) and vaporization (ΔHvap, 42.68 cal/mol) enthalpies were obtained by using an energy term in Chrastil and Bartle models.

Molecular Insights into Gas-Particle Partitioning and Viscosity of Atmospheric Brown Carbon.

Biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), containing brown carbon chromophores, plays a critical role in atmospheric chemistry and climate forcing. However, the effects of evaporation on BBOA volatility and viscosity under different environmental conditions remain poorly understood. This study focuses on the molecular characterization of laboratory-generated BBOA proxies from wood pyrolysis emissions. The initial mixture, "pyrolysis oil (PO1)", was progressively evaporated to produce more concentrated mixtures (PO1.33, PO2, and PO3) with volume reduction factors of 1.33, 2, and 3, respectively. Chemical speciation and volatility were investigated using temperature-programmed desorption combined with direct analysis in real-time ionization and high-resolution mass spectrometry (TPD-DART-HRMS). This novel approach quantified saturation vapor pressures and enthalpies of individual species, enabling the construction of volatility basis set distributions and the quantification of gas-particle partitioning. Viscosity estimates, validated by poke-flow experiments, showed a significant increase with evaporation, slowing particle-phase diffusion and extending equilibration times. These findings suggest that highly viscous tar ball particles in aged biomass burning emissions form as semivolatile components evaporate. The study highlights the importance of evaporation processes in shaping BBOA properties, underscoring the need to incorporate these factors into atmospheric models for better predictions of BBOA aging and its environmental impact.

In Situ Growth of Well-Aligned MOF Nanoneedle Arrays into Composite Photothermal Membranes for Solar Desalination.

The solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) technology serves as a clean and facile approach combining seawater desalination to address water shortage and energy crisis. Recently, porous organic framework materials have aroused great attention, and the development of MOF-based composites with significant performance in photothermal conversion and water activation has become one of the important focuses in this field. In this work, an MOF-based composite photothermal membrane (PON@MOF) was prepared via the in situ growth of metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoneedle arrays induced by a pyridine-based organic polymer nanowire network (PON). The PON@MOF membrane possessed an MOF array layer, a PON-induced layer, and a porous support layer. The PON is rich in coordinated nitrogen atoms for anchoring the metal-ion source, and the main role of the PON layer is to provide favorable nucleation sites and orient in situ growth of well-aligned MOF nanoneedle arrays. With the highly conjugated framework of PON@MOF and the light trapping of the nanoarrays strengthening the photothermal conversion as well as the hydrophilic chemical structure facilitating the decrease of the water evaporation enthalpy, the PON@MOF membrane realizes highly efficient thermal vapor conversion. Under solar irradiation (1.0 kW m-2), PON@MOF demonstrated an evaporation rate of 2.14 kg m-2 h-1 and a solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 98.5%. Meanwhile, the PON@MOF membrane has excellent salt resistance and stability, highlighting its potential application in desalination. Overall, this work provides a special idea for the structural design of photothermal composites for solar desalination and freshwater production.

Improving broadband absorption of carbon dot conjugated melanin via pre-doping strategy as interfacial photothermal evaporator

Photothermal seawater desalination harnesses solar energy to induce heat and expediates seawater evaporation and purification. The desalination efficacy heavily relies on the light absorption capability and microstructure of the solar evaporator. Polydopamine (PDA) represents a typical synthetic melanin with broad spectral absorption characteristics. However, its absorption capacity within the near-infrared (NIR) region is limited, leading to inadequate photothermal conversion efficiency. To overcome this challenge, we adopt a straightforward approach involving the pre-doping of N,S-doped carbon quantum dots (N,S-CQDs) with dopamine through covalent interaction to fabricate CQDs-loaded mesoporous polydopamine (MPDA-8). This strategy effectively reduces the band gap of PDA by fostering additional donor–acceptor pairs and π-stacking structures, thereby broadening the absorption capacity across the UV–Vis-NIR spectrum through nonradiative transitions. The MPDA-8 coated Balsa wood and cellulose evaporator achieved high evaporation rates of 1.82 kg m−2 h−1 and 2.10 kg m−2 h−1, respectively, overcoming the limit of 2D interfacial evaporator. The small pores and fiber channels within the wood, coupled with the hydrophilicity of MPDA-8, facilitates efficient water transportation and reduces evaporation enthalpy. Outdoor evaporation experiments conducted under sunlight corroborated the practical viability of this material. This study introduces a new perspective for advancing synthetic melanins in photothermal applications through the nanoparticle pre-doping strategy.

Green conversion of waste polyester into few-layer graphene for interfacial solar-driven evaporation and hydroelectric electricity generation

The coupling of solar-driven interfacial evaporation with hydrovoltaic technology is emerged as a hopeful approach to alleviate energy crisis and freshwater shortage. However, constructing low-cost evaporators with high-performance freshwater and electricity co-generation and unveiling the co-generation mechanism remain a grand challenge. Herein, we report the green transformation of waste poly(ε-caprolactone) into graphene through a salt-assisted carbonization strategy and build a flexible bi-functional graphene-based evaporator for freshwater and electricity co-generation. The graphene exhibits a typical wrinkled structure with curved edges and is composed of 7–8 discontinuous layers with rich oxygen-containing groups. The graphene-based evaporator exhibits excellent sunlight absorption (98%), photo-to-thermal conversion property, good water transport ability, low water evaporation enthalpy, and low thermal conductivity of 0.06 W m−1 K−1. The evaporator not only exhibits a notable water evaporation rate (2.92 kg m−2 h−1), but also achieves the maximum output voltage of 310 mV, surpassing many previously reported evaporators/generators. The result of molecular dynamics simulation proves the diffusion difference between H+ and OH− in water and graphene, which eventually leads to the voltage generation. Not only will this work help to improve the upcycling of waste plastics and achieve carbon neutrality, but it will also open an avenue for co-generation of freshwater and electricity.

Thermodynamic Properties of Two Cinnamate Derivatives with Flavor and Fragrance Features

The standard molar enthalpies of formation in the liquid phase for ethyl (E)-cinnamate and ethyl hydrocinnamate, two cinnamate derivatives with notable flavor and fragrance characteristics, were determined experimentally using combustion calorimetry in an oxygen atmosphere. To derive the gas-phase enthalpies of formation for these derivatives, their enthalpies of vaporization were measured using a high-temperature Calvet microcalorimeter and the vacuum drop microcalorimetric technique. Additionally, a computational analysis employing the G3(MP2)//B3LYP composite method was conducted to calculate the gas-phase standard enthalpies of formation at T = 298.15 K for both compounds. These findings enabled a detailed assessment and analysis of the structural and energetic effects of the vinyl and ethane moieties between the phenyl and carboxylic groups in the studied compounds. Considering the structural features of ethyl (E)-cinnamate and ethyl hydrocinnamate, a gas-phase enthalpy of hydrogenation analysis was conducted to explore their energetic profiles more thoroughly.