N-doped Fe3O4 nanoparticles loaded-carbon foam for a highly efficient and recyclable desalination-photocatalysis solar evaporator

Shide Dong, Xinyi Li, Jiaxin Zhang, Yue Hu, Chunjie Yan, Shengping Wang, Yuting Gao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Solar-powered evaporation technology is a green and sustainable solution to freshwater scarcity. However, massive evaporation of seawater may lead to localized accumulation of pollutants in the waterbody, causing secondary pollution. Herein, we developed a recyclable solar evaporator with a synergistic effect of solar thermal evaporation and photocatalysis by introducing Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) into carbon foam scaffold. The incorporation of Fe3O4 NPs can not only enhance the light absorption capability of carbon foam composite from visible to infrared regions, but also, the photocatalytic activity of the loaded Fe3O4 has been facilitated due to the dopant of N on Fe3O4 during the carbonization process. Additionally, the combined magnetic carbon foam (N-Fe3O4@CF) exhibits sustained stability, salt resistance and good recyclability, which can avoid secondary pollution. As a result, the integrated desalination-photocatalysis system achieved an evaporation efficiency up to 93.27 % under 1.0 solar irradiation, evaporation rate reached 1.5303 kg m−2 h−1 and simultaneously the degradation rate of organic pollutant reached more than 96 % within 1 h, which provides a feasible solution to alleviate global water/energy scarcity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number131425
JournalSeparation and Purification Technology
Volume361
Early online date3 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 3 Jan 2025

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Photocatalysis
  • Photothermal
  • Purification
  • Water desalination

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