PFI-TT: Solar Evaporator-Based High-Efficiency Water Desalination System

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to provide a low-cost, low-energy, off-grid system to obtain freshwater. Water security has been considered the top global risk, as a 40% shortfall is expected between forecasted demand and the available supply of water by 2030. Energy-intensive processing and insufficient clean water productivity of current technologies have become bottlenecks for cost-effective desalination water supply. The renewable energy-driven water utility market is growing, with key stakeholders in developed nations including agriculture and municipal water utility providers. The solar-driven water desalination system in this project is particularly suited for individual installations, underserved populations, and disaster scenarios, all of which are underserved by current desalination techniques. This project advances a process to convert seawater and other brackish water sources into freshwater via a versatile, environmentally friendly, and economically viable desalination system to alleviate water scarcity.The proposed project identifies a reliable, robust, and cost-effective solution for a solar-driven water desalination and treatment system. The project will optimize the advanced thermal and mechanical properties of a scaled Cu/CuO foam-based all-in-one solar evaporator, investigate a cost-effective strategy for efficient water desalination, and integrate a solar energy system with water desalination system by supplying the preheated sea or brackish water through existing solar-related infrastructures. A novel design of a planar interconnected open-pore foam-based evaporator will be demonstrated. The spatial extension of a planar structure is featured with an addition of a third vertical dimension to improve the evaporation performance. When compared to a similar interfacial structure, no extra photothermal materials are required for this design, and the simple structure is favorable for large-scale applications. The goal of this project is to develop a highly-efficient (4.5 kg/m2 h), cost-effective ( $40/m2) desalination system for freshwater supply driven by direct solar irradiation, enabled by novel functional materials and structures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.