Silver sulfide decorated carbonaceous sawdust/ES-PANI composites as salt-resistant solar steam generator

• Published in: RSC advances 2022-10, Vol.12 (44), p.28843-28852
• Main Authors: Sadoun, Ahmed K, Gebreil, Ahmed, Eltabey, Rania M, Kospa, Doaa A, Ahmed, Awad I, Ibrahim, Amr Awad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aniline; Boilers; Capillaries; Chemistry; Drinking water; Energy conversion efficiency; Evaporation rate; Evaporators; Low cost; Low temperature; Oxidation; Photothermal conversion; Polyanilines; Porous materials; Saline water; Salt; Sawdust; Seawater; Steam generation; Storage capacity; Water transportation
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ra04362a

Solar steam generation (SSG) is a potential approach for resolving the global water and energy crisis while causing the least amount of environmental damage. However, using adaptable photothermal absorbers with salt resistance through a simple, scalable, and cost-effective production approach is difficult. Herein, taking advantage of the ultra-fast water transportation in capillaries, and the large seawater storage capacity of wood, we develop a highly efficient natural evaporator. The wood wastes (sawdust) were carbonized at low temperatures to fabricate a green and low-cost carbonaceous porous material (CW). To enhance the salt resistance in high saline water, this evaporator was coated with polyaniline emeraldine salt (ES-PANI) which was synthesized through facile and cost-effective one-step oxidation of aniline. Furthermore, the composite was decorated with silver sulfide to increase the evaporation rate which reached up to 1.1 kg m −2 h −1 under 1 sun irradiation with 91.5% efficiency. Besides, the evaporator performs exceptionally well over 10 cycles due to the salt resistance capability of ES-PANI which generates a "Donnan exclusion" effect against cations in saline water. The Ag 2 S@PANI/CW evaporator may be a viable large-scale generator of drinking water due to its high efficiency for energy conversion, simple and low-cost fabrication approach, salt-resistance, and durability. Solar steam generation (SSG) is a potential approach for resolving the global water and energy crisis while causing the least amount of environmental damage.