Solar thermal utilizations revived by advanced solar evaporation

Publication date: September 2019Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 25Author(s): Xin Liu, Haizhou Liu, Xiaoqiang Yu, Lin Zhou, Jia ZhuRecent advances in the development of advanced solar evaporation have opened up new possibilities for the revived explorations of solar thermal utilization. Among them, microstructure-enabled solar evaporation received the most attention due to its unique capability of solar energy harvesting and localized heating effects, which are beneficial for an enhanced vapor production rate, a fast-responsive high-temperature steam generation, and so on. Here we review the primary photothermal properties of interfacial solar evaporators and the recent progress in potential point-of-use applications of solar desalination, solar sterilization as well as enthalpy-recycled power generation. A brief summary and prospective analysis have been discussed as well.

Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - August 17, 2019 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research