Reduced graphene oxide-based calcium alginate hydrogel as highly efficient solar steam generation membrane for desalination

摘要

Solar-driven evaporation has been considered as one of the potentialmethods for desalination and sewage treatment.However,optical concentrators andcomplex multi-component systems are essential in advanced technologies,resulting inlow efficiency and high cost.Here,we synthesize a reduced graphene oxide-basedporous calcium alginate(CA-rGO)hydrogel which exhibits good performance in lightabsorption.More than 90%of the light in the whole spectrum can be absorbed.Meanwhile,the water vapor escapes from the CA-rGO film extremely fast.The waterevaporation rate is 1.47 kg·m^(-2)·h^(-1),corresponding to the efficiency 77%under only 1 kW''m 2 irradiation.The high evaporation efficiency is attributed to the distinctive structureof the film,which contains inherent porous structure of hydrogel enabling rapid watertransport throughout the film,and the concave water surfaces formed in the hydrophilicpores provide a large surface area for evaporation.Hydrophobic rGO divides theevaporation surface and provides a longer three-phase evaporation line.The test onmultiple cyclic radiation shows that the material has good stability.The CA-rGO hydrogelmay have promising application as a membrane for solar steam generation indesalination and sewage treatment.