03 June, 2018
Purifying water to make it clean enough to drink takes a lot of energy. A KAUST team has found a way to efficiently produce clean fresh water using the energy in sunlight. The 3D solar-steam generator, which works with near-perfect energy efficiency, could be used as an environmentally friendly way to turn seawater into drinking water, as well as to clean wastewater.
Key to the solar steam generator is a photothermal material that soaks up sunlight and converts the captured energy into heat. When placed on a wet surface, water drawn into the hot photothermal material turns to steam, which can be captured as pure water.
Image: Solar-steam generation treats wastewater and has a great potential to provide fit-for-purpose water for agriculture.
© 2018 Renyuan Li