I-Corps: Nanophotonics Enabled Solar Membrane Distillation

I-Corps：纳米光子学支持的太阳能膜蒸馏

• 批准号: 1745213
• 负责人: Naomi Halas
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-07-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1745213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Nanophotonics; Enabled; Solar; Membrane

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is addressing the increasing demand for sustainable water purification and cost-effective phase separation with an energy-efficient, economical, portable and scalable solution. More than a billion people around the world lack access to clean drinking water. Most of the existing technologies for water purification and phase separation mainly use energy from conventional fuels increasing their operating cost and limiting their application. The proposed technology of Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation (NESMD) uses solar energy to vaporize water and potentially other liquids of interest. NESMD system is energy-efficient, portable and can be scaled in size making it suitable for household, commercial and industrial water purification. Cost-effective phase separation with NESMD can be attractive for petroleum and related industries as well.This I-Corps project focuses on electricity-free water purification and phase separation. Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation (NESMD) system consists of a polymer membrane coated with light-absorbing carbon-based nanomaterials which efficiently absorb incident sunlight. The capability of converting light into heat within a thin layer on top of a semipermeable membrane allows an efficient local conversion of liquid to its vapor phase. This membrane can be used in contact with saline/polluted water or a mixture of organic solvents allowing the heat from the absorbed sunlight to induce vaporization through the membrane separating the liquid of interest from non-volatile components such as salts, heavy metals, bacteria or other liquids. Proof-of-concept lab-scale studies of the NESMD system show efficient water purification with more than 99.5% salt rejection. Through this I-Corps project the team wants to further assess and investigate the value of this technology for water purification and phase separation market.

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过一个节能、经济、便携和可扩展的解决方案来满足对可持续水净化和具有成本效益的相分离的日益增长的需求。全世界有10亿多人无法获得清洁的饮用水。现有的大多数水净化和相分离技术主要使用来自常规燃料的能量，增加了它们的操作成本并限制了它们的应用。纳米光子太阳能膜蒸馏（NESMD）技术利用太阳能蒸发水和其他可能感兴趣的液体。NESMD系统是节能的，便携式的，可以按比例放大，使其适用于家庭，商业和工业水净化。利用NESMD进行的经济高效的相分离对石油和相关行业也具有吸引力。I-Corps的这个项目专注于无电水净化和相分离。纳米光子太阳能膜蒸馏（NESMD）系统由涂有光吸收碳基纳米材料的聚合物膜组成，该材料可有效吸收入射太阳光。在半透膜顶部的薄层内将光转换成热的能力允许液体有效地局部转换成其气相。该膜可用于与盐水/污染水或有机溶剂的混合物接触，从而允许来自吸收的阳光的热量通过膜引起蒸发，该膜将感兴趣的液体与非挥发性组分（例如盐、重金属、细菌或其它液体）分离。对NESMD系统的概念验证实验室规模研究表明，该系统具有99.5%以上的脱盐率，可有效净化水。通过这个I-Corps项目，该团队希望进一步评估和调查该技术在水净化和相分离市场的价值。