Synthetic Graphene Oxide Leaf for Solar Desalination with Zero Liquid Discharge
Abstract
Water vapor generation through sunlight harvesting and heat localization by carbon-based porous thin film materials holds great promise for sustainable, energy-efficient desalination and water treatment. However, the applicability of such materials in a high-salinity environment emphasizing zero-liquid-discharge brine disposal has not been studied. Here this paper reports the characterization and evaporation performance of a nature-inspired synthetic leaf made of graphene oxide (GO) thin film material, which exhibited broadband light absorption and excellent stability in high-salinity water. Under 0.82-sun illumination (825 W/m2), a GO leaf floating on water generated steam at a rate of 1.1 L per m2 per hour (LMH) with a light-to-vapor energy conversion efficiency of 54%, while a GO leaf lifted above water in a tree-like configuration generated steam at a rate of 2.0 LMH with an energy efficiency of 78%. The evaporation rate increased with increasing light intensity and decreased with increasing salinity. During a long-term evaporation experiment with a 15 wt % NaCl solution, the GO leaf demonstrated stable performance despite gradual and eventually severe accumulation of salt crystals on the leaf surface. Furthermore, the GO leaf can be easily restored to its pristine condition by simply scraping off salt crystals from its surface and rinsingmore »
- Authors:
-
- University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF); Hellman Family Faculty Fund
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1539046
- Grant/Contract Number:
- IA0000018; AC02-05CH11231; CBET-1565452; DGE-1106400
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Science and Technology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 51; Journal Issue: 20; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 42 ENGINEERING
Citation Formats
Finnerty, Casey, Zhang, Lei, Sedlak, David L., Nelson, Kara L., and Mi, Baoxia. Synthetic Graphene Oxide Leaf for Solar Desalination with Zero Liquid Discharge. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b03040.
Finnerty, Casey, Zhang, Lei, Sedlak, David L., Nelson, Kara L., & Mi, Baoxia. Synthetic Graphene Oxide Leaf for Solar Desalination with Zero Liquid Discharge. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b03040
Finnerty, Casey, Zhang, Lei, Sedlak, David L., Nelson, Kara L., and Mi, Baoxia. Mon .
"Synthetic Graphene Oxide Leaf for Solar Desalination with Zero Liquid Discharge". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b03040. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1539046.
@article{osti_1539046,
title = {Synthetic Graphene Oxide Leaf for Solar Desalination with Zero Liquid Discharge},
author = {Finnerty, Casey and Zhang, Lei and Sedlak, David L. and Nelson, Kara L. and Mi, Baoxia},
abstractNote = {Water vapor generation through sunlight harvesting and heat localization by carbon-based porous thin film materials holds great promise for sustainable, energy-efficient desalination and water treatment. However, the applicability of such materials in a high-salinity environment emphasizing zero-liquid-discharge brine disposal has not been studied. Here this paper reports the characterization and evaporation performance of a nature-inspired synthetic leaf made of graphene oxide (GO) thin film material, which exhibited broadband light absorption and excellent stability in high-salinity water. Under 0.82-sun illumination (825 W/m2), a GO leaf floating on water generated steam at a rate of 1.1 L per m2 per hour (LMH) with a light-to-vapor energy conversion efficiency of 54%, while a GO leaf lifted above water in a tree-like configuration generated steam at a rate of 2.0 LMH with an energy efficiency of 78%. The evaporation rate increased with increasing light intensity and decreased with increasing salinity. During a long-term evaporation experiment with a 15 wt % NaCl solution, the GO leaf demonstrated stable performance despite gradual and eventually severe accumulation of salt crystals on the leaf surface. Furthermore, the GO leaf can be easily restored to its pristine condition by simply scraping off salt crystals from its surface and rinsing with water. Therefore, the robust high performance and relatively low fabrication cost of the synthetic GO leaf could potentially unlock a new generation of desalination technology that can be entirely solar-powered and achieve zero liquid discharge.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.7b03040},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
number = 20,
volume = 51,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
The Future of Seawater Desalination: Energy, Technology, and the Environment
journal, August 2011
- Elimelech, M.; Phillip, W. A.
- Science, Vol. 333, Issue 6043
The Global Rise of Zero Liquid Discharge for Wastewater Management: Drivers, Technologies, and Future Directions
journal, June 2016
- Tong, Tiezheng; Elimelech, Menachem
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 50, Issue 13
Pilot demonstration of the NH3/CO2 forward osmosis desalination process on high salinity brines
journal, March 2013
- McGinnis, Robert L.; Hancock, Nathan T.; Nowosielski-Slepowron, Marek S.
- Desalination, Vol. 312
Potential of membrane distillation in seawater desalination: Thermal efficiency, sensitivity study and cost estimation
journal, October 2008
- Alobaidani, S.; Curcio, E.; Macedonio, F.
- Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 323, Issue 1
Multifunctional Porous Graphene for High-Efficiency Steam Generation by Heat Localization
journal, June 2015
- Ito, Yoshikazu; Tanabe, Yoichi; Han, Jiuhui
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 29
Bilayered Biofoam for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation
journal, July 2016
- Jiang, Qisheng; Tian, Limei; Liu, Keng-Ku
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 28, Issue 42
Bio-Inspired Evaporation Through Plasmonic Film of Nanoparticles at the Air-Water Interface
journal, May 2014
- Wang, Zhenhui; Liu, Yanming; Tao, Peng
- Small, Vol. 10, Issue 16
Floatable, Self-Cleaning, and Carbon-Black-Based Superhydrophobic Gauze for the Solar Evaporation Enhancement at the Air–Water Interface
journal, June 2015
- Liu, Yiming; Chen, Jingwei; Guo, Dawei
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 7, Issue 24
Efficient Solar-Thermal Energy Harvest Driven by Interfacial Plasmonic Heating-Assisted Evaporation
journal, August 2016
- Chang, Chao; Yang, Chao; Liu, Yanming
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 8, Issue 35
Bioinspired Bifunctional Membrane for Efficient Clean Water Generation
journal, December 2015
- Liu, Yang; Lou, Jinwei; Ni, Mengtian
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 8, Issue 1
3D self-assembly of aluminium nanoparticles for plasmon-enhanced solar desalination
journal, April 2016
- Zhou, Lin; Tan, Yingling; Wang, Jingyang
- Nature Photonics, Vol. 10, Issue 6
Heat generation and stability of a plasmonic nanogold system
journal, December 2015
- Ni, Yuan; Kan, Caixia; Gao, Qi
- Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 49, Issue 5
Flexible thin-film black gold membranes with ultrabroadband plasmonic nanofocusing for efficient solar vapour generation
journal, December 2015
- Bae, Kyuyoung; Kang, Gumin; Cho, Suehyun K.
- Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1
Self-assembly of highly efficient, broadband plasmonic absorbers for solar steam generation
journal, April 2016
- Zhou, Lin; Tan, Yingling; Ji, Dengxin
- Science Advances, Vol. 2, Issue 4
Vertically Aligned Graphene Sheets Membrane for Highly Efficient Solar Thermal Generation of Clean Water
journal, April 2017
- Zhang, Panpan; Li, Jing; Lv, Lingxiao
- ACS Nano, Vol. 11, Issue 5
Graphene oxide-based efficient and scalable solar desalination under one sun with a confined 2D water path
journal, November 2016
- Li, Xiuqiang; Xu, Weichao; Tang, Mingyao
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113, Issue 49
Tailoring Graphene Oxide-Based Aerogels for Efficient Solar Steam Generation under One Sun
journal, November 2016
- Hu, Xiaozhen; Xu, Weichao; Zhou, Lin
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 5
Three-dimensional artificial transpiration for efficient solar waste-water treatment
journal, May 2017
- Li, Xiuqiang; Lin, Renxing; Ni, George
- National Science Review, Vol. 5, Issue 1
Solar steam generation by heat localization
journal, July 2014
- Ghasemi, Hadi; Ni, George; Marconnet, Amy Marie
- Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
Swelling of Graphene Oxide Membranes in Aqueous Solution: Characterization of Interlayer Spacing and Insight into Water Transport Mechanisms
journal, May 2017
- Zheng, Sunxiang; Tu, Qingsong; Urban, Jeffrey J.
- ACS Nano, Vol. 11, Issue 6
Graphene Oxide Membranes for Ionic and Molecular Sieving
journal, February 2014
- Mi, B.
- Science, Vol. 343, Issue 6172
Ultrafast viscous water flow through nanostrand-channelled graphene oxide membranes
journal, December 2013
- Huang, Hubiao; Song, Zhigong; Wei, Ning
- Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Layer-by-layer assembly of graphene oxide membranes via electrostatic interaction
journal, November 2014
- Hu, Meng; Mi, Baoxia
- Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 469
Novel water filtration of saline water in the outermost layer of mangrove roots
journal, February 2016
- Kim, Kiwoong; Seo, Eunseok; Chang, Suk-Kyu
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, Issue 1
Photosynthetic performance and resource utilization of two mangrove species coexisting in a hypersaline scrub forest
journal, January 2003
- Lovelock, Catherine E.; Feller, Ilka C.
- Oecologia, Vol. 134, Issue 4
Salt Regulation in the Mangroves Rhizophora Mucronata Lam. And Aegialitis Annulata Rbr
journal, January 1967
- Atkinson, Mr; Findlay, Gp; Hope, Ab
- Australian Journal of Biological Sciences, Vol. 20, Issue 3
Preparation of Graphitic Oxide
journal, March 1958
- Hummers, William S.; Offeman, Richard E.
- Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 80, Issue 6, p. 1339-1339
Improved Synthesis of Graphene Oxide
journal, July 2010
- Marcano, Daniela C.; Kosynkin, Dmitry V.; Berlin, Jacob M.
- ACS Nano, Vol. 4, Issue 8, p. 4806-4814
Highly elastic graphene oxide–epoxy composite aerogels via simple freeze-drying and subsequent routine curing
journal, January 2013
- Ye, Shibing; Feng, Jiachun; Wu, Peiyi
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 1, Issue 10
A synthetic leaf: the biomimetic potential of graphene oxide
conference, March 2015
- Lamb, Marilla; Koch, George W.; Morgan, Eric R.
- SPIE Proceedings
How do tree structure and old age affect growth potential of California redwoods?
journal, May 2015
- Sillett, Stephen C.; Van Pelt, Robert; Carroll, Allyson L.
- Ecological Monographs, Vol. 85, Issue 2
A bio-inspired micropump based on stomatal transpiration in plants
journal, January 2011
- Li, Jing-min; Liu, Chong; Xu, Zheng
- Lab on a Chip, Vol. 11, Issue 16
Mushrooms as Efficient Solar Steam-Generation Devices
journal, May 2017
- Xu, Ning; Hu, Xiaozhen; Xu, Weichao
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 28
MXene Ti 3 C 2 : An Effective 2D Light-to-Heat Conversion Material
journal, March 2017
- Li, Renyuan; Zhang, Lianbin; Shi, Le
- ACS Nano, Vol. 11, Issue 4
Hydrophobic Light-to-Heat Conversion Membranes with Self-Healing Ability for Interfacial Solar Heating
journal, July 2015
- Zhang, Lianbin; Tang, Bo; Wu, Jinbo
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 33
LX. On the equilibrium of vapour at a curved surface of liquid
journal, December 1871
- Thomson, William
- The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Vol. 42, Issue 282
Effects of Grain and Pore Size on Salt Precipitation During Evaporation from Porous Media
journal, May 2015
- Rad, Mansoureh Norouzi; Shokri, Nima; Keshmiri, Amir
- Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 110, Issue 2
Ground-based measurements of leaf area index: a review of methods, instruments and current controversies
journal, September 2003
- Breda, N. J. J.
- Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 54, Issue 392
Works referencing / citing this record:
Solar powered desalination – Technology, energy and future outlook
journal, March 2019
- Ahmed, Farah Ejaz; Hashaikeh, Raed; Hilal, Nidal
- Desalination, Vol. 453
Willow Catkins-Derived Porous Carbon Membrane with Hydrophilic Property for Efficient Solar Steam Generation
journal, February 2020
- Zhang, Shaochun; Zang, Linlin; Dou, Tianwei
- ACS Omega, Vol. 5, Issue 6
Emerging investigator series: the rise of nano-enabled photothermal materials for water evaporation and clean water production by sunlight
journal, January 2018
- Wang, Peng
- Environmental Science: Nano, Vol. 5, Issue 5
A water lily–inspired hierarchical design for stable and efficient solar evaporation of high-salinity brine
journal, July 2019
- Xu, Ning; Li, Jinlei; Wang, Yang
- Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 7
Pathways and challenges for efficient solar-thermal desalination
journal, July 2019
- Wang, Zhangxin; Horseman, Thomas; Straub, Anthony P.
- Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 7