Interfacial solar water evaporation is a reliable way to accelerate water evaporation and contaminant remediation.Embracing the recent advance in photothermal technology,a functional sponge was prepared by coating a s...Interfacial solar water evaporation is a reliable way to accelerate water evaporation and contaminant remediation.Embracing the recent advance in photothermal technology,a functional sponge was prepared by coating a sodium alginate(SA)impregnated sponge with a surface layer of reduced graphene oxide(rGO)to act as a photothermal conversion medium and then subsequently evaluated for its ability to enhance Pb extraction from contaminated soil driven by interfacial solar evaporation.The SA loaded sponge had a Pb adsorption capacity of 107.4 mg g^(-1).Coating the top surface of the SA sponge with rGO increased water evaporation performance to 1.81 kg m^(-2)h^(-1)in soil media under one sun illumination and with a wind velocity of 2 m s^(-1).Over 12 continuous days of indoor evaporation testing,the Pb extraction efficiency was increased by 22.0%under 1 sun illumination relative to that observed without illumination.Subsequently,Pb extraction was further improved by 48.9%under outdoor evaporation conditions compared to indoor conditions.Overall,this initial work shows the significant potential of interfacial solar evaporation technologies for Pb contaminated soil remediation,which should also be applicable to a variety of other environmental contaminants.展开更多
A system of light harvesting, sensing and regulating was designed based on the photo-thermal and Seebeck effect of flexible CuO nanostructures. Cu@CuO meshes were prepared via self-oxidation of Cu mesh and utilized as...A system of light harvesting, sensing and regulating was designed based on the photo-thermal and Seebeck effect of flexible CuO nanostructures. Cu@CuO meshes were prepared via self-oxidation of Cu mesh and utilized as the photo-thermal material. Upon irradiation by visible light, the temperature of the Cu@CuO mesh dramatically increases. The temperature difference between the irradiated and non-irradiated parts of the Cu@CuO mesh produced a measurable voltage output due to the Seebeck effect. The generated voltage was then converted into a digital signal to control a rotary neutral-density disc to filter the received light. This enabled regulation of the intensity of the incident light at a selected region. This system is cost effective and has potential applications in greenhouses, factories and smart buildings to minimize energy consumption and improve wellbeing.展开更多
Developing smart and advanced functional materials inspired by the unparalleled complexity and efficiency of biological tissues has received much attention across various fields.Magnesium alloys,particularly pure magn...Developing smart and advanced functional materials inspired by the unparalleled complexity and efficiency of biological tissues has received much attention across various fields.Magnesium alloys,particularly pure magnesium,have emerged as notable candidates in orthopedics and dentistry due to their exceptional biocompatibility,degradability,and ability to promote bone regeneration[1].However,the highly reactive chemical nature of magnesium and its rapid degradation upon exposure to water.展开更多
Interfacial solar evaporation(ISE)is a promising technology to relieve worldwide freshwater shortages owing to its high energy conversion efficiency and environmentally sustainable potential.So far,many innovative mat...Interfacial solar evaporation(ISE)is a promising technology to relieve worldwide freshwater shortages owing to its high energy conversion efficiency and environmentally sustainable potential.So far,many innovative materials and evaporators have been proposed and applied in ISE to enable highly controllable and efficient solar-to-thermal energy conversion.With rational design,solar evaporators can achieve excellent energy management for lowering energy loss,harvesting extra energy,and efficiently utilizing energy in the system to improve freshwater production.Beyond that,a strategy of reducing water vaporization enthalpy by introducing molecular engineering for water-state regulation has also been demonstrated as an effective approach to boost ISE.Based on these,this article discusses the energy nexus in two-dimensional(2D)and three-dimensional(3D)evaporators separately and reviews the strategies for design and fabrication of highly efficient ISE systems.The summarized work offers significant perspectives for guiding the future design of ISE systems with efficient energy management,which pave pathways for practical applications.展开更多
The demand for electronic devices has dramatically increased in the past few years.Efficient electronic devices require excellent thermal management systems to extend their operation time and prevent heat accumulation...The demand for electronic devices has dramatically increased in the past few years.Efficient electronic devices require excellent thermal management systems to extend their operation time and prevent heat accumulation from affecting performance.Carbonaceous materials are considered as one of the ideal thermal management materials due to their excellent physiochemical stability.In addition,since porous-structured carbon materials typically exhibit outstanding thermal conductivity,low density,and large contact area,they have attracted considerable attention from both academia and industry in the last decades.In this review,methods and strategies for the preparation of highly thermally conductive porous carbon-based materials and the factors that influence their thermal conductivity of the materials are summarized.The thermal performance of porous carbonaceous materials fabricated by different approaches and their applications are also discussed.Finally,the potential challenges and strategies for the development and applications of highly thermally conductive porous carbona-ceous materials are discussed.展开更多
A solid photothermal reservoir is designed to implement solar-steam generation in the absence of bulk water.The photothermal reservoir is composed of a water absorbing core encapsulated by a photothermal reduced graph...A solid photothermal reservoir is designed to implement solar-steam generation in the absence of bulk water.The photothermal reservoir is composed of a water absorbing core encapsulated by a photothermal reduced graphene oxide based aerogel sheet which absorbs light and converts it into heat thus evaporating the stored water.The photothermal reservoir is able to store 6.5 times its own weight in water,which is sufficient for one day solar evaporation,thus no external water supplement is required.During solar-steam generation,since no bulk water is involved,the photothermal reservoir minimizes heat conduction loss,and maximizes both of the exposed evaporation surface area and net energy gain from the environment,leading to an energy efficiency beyond the theoretical limit.An extremely high water evaporation rate of 4.0 kg m-2 h-1(normalized to projection area)is achieved in laboratory studies over a cylinder photothermal reservoir with a diameter of 5.2 cm and a height of 15 cm under 1.0 sun irradiation.Practical evaluation of the photothermal reservoir outdoors as part of a desalination device demonstrates a similar evaporation rate where the salinity of the clean water produced is lower than 24 ppb.Thus the photothermal reservoir shows great potential for real world applications in portable solarthermal desalination.展开更多
It is a formidable challenge to fabricate healable polymeric materials with high mechanical strength and stiffness due to the highly suppressed diffusion of their polymer chains.Herein,a high-strength,highly stiff,and...It is a formidable challenge to fabricate healable polymeric materials with high mechanical strength and stiffness due to the highly suppressed diffusion of their polymer chains.Herein,a high-strength,highly stiff,andrepairable/healable supramolecular polymercomposite was fabricatedby complexingpoly(acrylic acid)(PAA)and poly(allylamine hydrochloride)(PAH)in aqueous solutions,followed by molding into desired shapes.Exquisitely tuning the electrostatic and H-bonding interactions between PAA and PAH led to associative phase-separation and in situ formation of nanostructures in the resultant PAA–PAH composites.展开更多
基金H.Xu acknowledges the financial support from the Australian Research Council(FT190100485,DP220100583)P.W.acknowledge financial support from the China Scholarship Council for primary scholarships and from the Future Industries Institute for top up scholarships.All authors acknowledge the use of Microscopy Australia facilities located at the University of South Australia,infrastructure co-funded by the University of South Australia,the South Australian State Government,and the Australian Federal Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy(NCRIS)scheme.
文摘Interfacial solar water evaporation is a reliable way to accelerate water evaporation and contaminant remediation.Embracing the recent advance in photothermal technology,a functional sponge was prepared by coating a sodium alginate(SA)impregnated sponge with a surface layer of reduced graphene oxide(rGO)to act as a photothermal conversion medium and then subsequently evaluated for its ability to enhance Pb extraction from contaminated soil driven by interfacial solar evaporation.The SA loaded sponge had a Pb adsorption capacity of 107.4 mg g^(-1).Coating the top surface of the SA sponge with rGO increased water evaporation performance to 1.81 kg m^(-2)h^(-1)in soil media under one sun illumination and with a wind velocity of 2 m s^(-1).Over 12 continuous days of indoor evaporation testing,the Pb extraction efficiency was increased by 22.0%under 1 sun illumination relative to that observed without illumination.Subsequently,Pb extraction was further improved by 48.9%under outdoor evaporation conditions compared to indoor conditions.Overall,this initial work shows the significant potential of interfacial solar evaporation technologies for Pb contaminated soil remediation,which should also be applicable to a variety of other environmental contaminants.
基金supported by the Future Industries Institute,University of South Australia(Foundation Fellow)
文摘A system of light harvesting, sensing and regulating was designed based on the photo-thermal and Seebeck effect of flexible CuO nanostructures. Cu@CuO meshes were prepared via self-oxidation of Cu mesh and utilized as the photo-thermal material. Upon irradiation by visible light, the temperature of the Cu@CuO mesh dramatically increases. The temperature difference between the irradiated and non-irradiated parts of the Cu@CuO mesh produced a measurable voltage output due to the Seebeck effect. The generated voltage was then converted into a digital signal to control a rotary neutral-density disc to filter the received light. This enabled regulation of the intensity of the incident light at a selected region. This system is cost effective and has potential applications in greenhouses, factories and smart buildings to minimize energy consumption and improve wellbeing.
文摘Developing smart and advanced functional materials inspired by the unparalleled complexity and efficiency of biological tissues has received much attention across various fields.Magnesium alloys,particularly pure magnesium,have emerged as notable candidates in orthopedics and dentistry due to their exceptional biocompatibility,degradability,and ability to promote bone regeneration[1].However,the highly reactive chemical nature of magnesium and its rapid degradation upon exposure to water.
基金Authors acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52125201 and 21975141)the National Key Basic Research and Development Program(No.2020YFA0210702)+1 种基金Shenzhen Science and Technology Research Project(No.JCYJ20180508152903208)Australian Research Council(Nos.FT190100485 and DP220100583).
文摘Interfacial solar evaporation(ISE)is a promising technology to relieve worldwide freshwater shortages owing to its high energy conversion efficiency and environmentally sustainable potential.So far,many innovative materials and evaporators have been proposed and applied in ISE to enable highly controllable and efficient solar-to-thermal energy conversion.With rational design,solar evaporators can achieve excellent energy management for lowering energy loss,harvesting extra energy,and efficiently utilizing energy in the system to improve freshwater production.Beyond that,a strategy of reducing water vaporization enthalpy by introducing molecular engineering for water-state regulation has also been demonstrated as an effective approach to boost ISE.Based on these,this article discusses the energy nexus in two-dimensional(2D)and three-dimensional(3D)evaporators separately and reviews the strategies for design and fabrication of highly efficient ISE systems.The summarized work offers significant perspectives for guiding the future design of ISE systems with efficient energy management,which pave pathways for practical applications.
基金support from the Australian Research Council(FT190100485,DP220100583)University of South Australia.
文摘The demand for electronic devices has dramatically increased in the past few years.Efficient electronic devices require excellent thermal management systems to extend their operation time and prevent heat accumulation from affecting performance.Carbonaceous materials are considered as one of the ideal thermal management materials due to their excellent physiochemical stability.In addition,since porous-structured carbon materials typically exhibit outstanding thermal conductivity,low density,and large contact area,they have attracted considerable attention from both academia and industry in the last decades.In this review,methods and strategies for the preparation of highly thermally conductive porous carbon-based materials and the factors that influence their thermal conductivity of the materials are summarized.The thermal performance of porous carbonaceous materials fabricated by different approaches and their applications are also discussed.Finally,the potential challenges and strategies for the development and applications of highly thermally conductive porous carbona-ceous materials are discussed.
基金the financial support from University of South Australia,AustraliaHuasheng Graphite Co.,Ltd.,China
文摘A solid photothermal reservoir is designed to implement solar-steam generation in the absence of bulk water.The photothermal reservoir is composed of a water absorbing core encapsulated by a photothermal reduced graphene oxide based aerogel sheet which absorbs light and converts it into heat thus evaporating the stored water.The photothermal reservoir is able to store 6.5 times its own weight in water,which is sufficient for one day solar evaporation,thus no external water supplement is required.During solar-steam generation,since no bulk water is involved,the photothermal reservoir minimizes heat conduction loss,and maximizes both of the exposed evaporation surface area and net energy gain from the environment,leading to an energy efficiency beyond the theoretical limit.An extremely high water evaporation rate of 4.0 kg m-2 h-1(normalized to projection area)is achieved in laboratory studies over a cylinder photothermal reservoir with a diameter of 5.2 cm and a height of 15 cm under 1.0 sun irradiation.Practical evaluation of the photothermal reservoir outdoors as part of a desalination device demonstrates a similar evaporation rate where the salinity of the clean water produced is lower than 24 ppb.Thus the photothermal reservoir shows great potential for real world applications in portable solarthermal desalination.
基金the National Key R&D Program of China(2018YFC1105401)and China’s Thousand Talent Plan,L.Y.thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC grant no.21704067)J.S.thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC grant no.21774049)for financial support.
文摘It is a formidable challenge to fabricate healable polymeric materials with high mechanical strength and stiffness due to the highly suppressed diffusion of their polymer chains.Herein,a high-strength,highly stiff,andrepairable/healable supramolecular polymercomposite was fabricatedby complexingpoly(acrylic acid)(PAA)and poly(allylamine hydrochloride)(PAH)in aqueous solutions,followed by molding into desired shapes.Exquisitely tuning the electrostatic and H-bonding interactions between PAA and PAH led to associative phase-separation and in situ formation of nanostructures in the resultant PAA–PAH composites.
