Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation
The global water crisis is becoming more and more serious, and solar steam generation has recently been investigated for clean water production and wastewater treatment. However, the efficiency of solar vapor transfer is still low. It is a great challenge to find photothermal materials which simulta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/7/1486 |
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| author | Han Yu Yuqi Shi Aiwu Ding Jianhe Liao Hongxing Gui Yongping Chen |
| author_facet | Han Yu Yuqi Shi Aiwu Ding Jianhe Liao Hongxing Gui Yongping Chen |
| author_sort | Han Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The global water crisis is becoming more and more serious, and solar steam generation has recently been investigated for clean water production and wastewater treatment. However, the efficiency of solar vapor transfer is still low. It is a great challenge to find photothermal materials which simultaneously have high energy transfer efficiency, facile production, and are low cost. To address this, we propose a method which is simple, low cost and suitable for large-scale preparation to fabricate the photothermal materials based on using recycled natural rubber sponge (NRS) coated with polydopamine (PDA). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirmed that when the PDA coated the surface of the NRS, the hydrophilicity of the sponge was significantly improved. Scanning electron microscopy characterization showed that the PDA-coated natural rubber sponge (PNRS) maintained the porous 3D skeleton of the pristine sponge. As a result, PNRS exhibits excellent photothermal properties, a very high evaporation rate of 1.35 kg m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>, and an energy transfer efficiency of 84.6% can be achieved under a light intensity of 1 sun (1 kW m<sup>−2</sup>). It is worth noting that the vapor generation of PNRS is still at a high level with 1.06 and 1.09 kg m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> in the corrosive liquids of 1 M H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> and 0.5 M NaOH, respectively. The photothermal materials based on using recycled NRS have good application prospects in seawater desalination and the purification of wastewater, which also provides a new method for the recycling of waste NRS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:29:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a64189ee3fe1487087d72eb9c5574622 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:29:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-a64189ee3fe1487087d72eb9c55746222023-11-30T23:55:07ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602022-04-01147148610.3390/polym14071486Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor GenerationHan Yu0Yuqi Shi1Aiwu Ding2Jianhe Liao3Hongxing Gui4Yongping Chen5School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaRubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, ChinaSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaThe global water crisis is becoming more and more serious, and solar steam generation has recently been investigated for clean water production and wastewater treatment. However, the efficiency of solar vapor transfer is still low. It is a great challenge to find photothermal materials which simultaneously have high energy transfer efficiency, facile production, and are low cost. To address this, we propose a method which is simple, low cost and suitable for large-scale preparation to fabricate the photothermal materials based on using recycled natural rubber sponge (NRS) coated with polydopamine (PDA). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirmed that when the PDA coated the surface of the NRS, the hydrophilicity of the sponge was significantly improved. Scanning electron microscopy characterization showed that the PDA-coated natural rubber sponge (PNRS) maintained the porous 3D skeleton of the pristine sponge. As a result, PNRS exhibits excellent photothermal properties, a very high evaporation rate of 1.35 kg m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>, and an energy transfer efficiency of 84.6% can be achieved under a light intensity of 1 sun (1 kW m<sup>−2</sup>). It is worth noting that the vapor generation of PNRS is still at a high level with 1.06 and 1.09 kg m<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> in the corrosive liquids of 1 M H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> and 0.5 M NaOH, respectively. The photothermal materials based on using recycled NRS have good application prospects in seawater desalination and the purification of wastewater, which also provides a new method for the recycling of waste NRS.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/7/1486recycled NR spongepolydopamine coatingsvapor generation |
| spellingShingle | Han Yu Yuqi Shi Aiwu Ding Jianhe Liao Hongxing Gui Yongping Chen Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation Polymers recycled NR sponge polydopamine coatings vapor generation |
| title | Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation |
| title_full | Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation |
| title_fullStr | Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation |
| title_short | Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation |
| title_sort | polydopamine coated natural rubber sponge for highly efficient vapor generation |
| topic | recycled NR sponge polydopamine coatings vapor generation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/7/1486 |
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