Role of Nanoscale Morphology on the Efficiency of Solvent-Based Desalination Method
Role of Nanoscale Morphology on the Efficiency of Solvent-Based Desalination Method
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DOI：
10.1021/acsestwater.2c00473
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发表时间：
2023-01
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
James S. Peerless;Alexey V. Gulyuk;Nina J. B. Milliken;G. Kim;Elliot Reid;Jae Woo Lee;Dooil Kim;Zachary Hendren;Young-Chul Choi;Yaroslava G. Yingling
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作者：
James S. Peerless;Alexey V. Gulyuk;Nina J. B. Milliken;G. Kim;Elliot Reid;Jae Woo Lee;Dooil Kim;Zachary Hendren;Young-Chul Choi;Yaroslava G. Yingling
盐水脱盐对于减少污染废水对环境的影响至关重要，但目前的脱盐技术对能源的需求很高。基于溶剂的海水淡化（SBD）方法是一种使用有机溶剂提取淡水的方法，已经存在了几十年，但尚未达到具有竞争力的效率。在本研究中，通过实验规模萃取实验和分子动力学（MD）模拟，测试了10种有机溶剂对SBD的协同作用。SBD的有效性与计算观察到的溶剂在水中形成三种形态之一的能力相关：有序、无序或部分纳米级。我们将形成有序和无序形态的溶剂联系起来，认为它们不能净化水。能够在水中引起低盐度的溶剂显示出计算观察到的部分纳米级相分离，其中纳米级聚集的溶剂相能够有效地拒绝盐离子，同时捕获相对大量的水分子。部分纳米级相的形成可能是由靠近亲水端基的大量碳氢化合物的溶剂结构驱动的。我们的研究结果朝着合理设计溶剂迈出了一步，这些溶剂可能允许高效的SBD，从而成为低成本的淡水来源。
Brine desalination is important for minimizing the environmental impact of contaminated wastewater, yet current desalination techniques have high energy requirements. Solvent-based desalination (SBD) method, which is the process of extracting fresh water using an organic solvent, has existed for decades, yet has not reached competitive efficiencies. In this work, 10 organic solvents were tested for SBD efficacy via synergetic studies using bench-scale extraction experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The SBD effectiveness was correlated to the computationally observed ability of the solvent to form one of the three morphologies in water: ordered, disordered, or partial nanoscale. We correlated that solvents that form ordered and disordered morphologies were not able to clean up the water. Solvents that were able to cause low salinity in water showed computationally observed partial nanoscale phase separation, where nanometer-scale aggregated solvent phases were able to effectively reject salt ions while capturing comparatively large amounts of water molecules. The formation of a partial nanoscale phase is likely driven by the solvent structure with bulky hydrocarbons adjacent to hydrophilic end groups. Our results make a step toward the rational design of solvents that may allow for efficient SBD and thus a low-cost source of fresh water.