This sun, which works in the sun, pulls drinking water directly from the ocean

This is not the first time that scientists have created sponge materials that use sunlight as a source of sustainable energy to clean water or desalination. For example, a hydrogel inspired by the lofage with polymers was tested inside its pores on the chrome contaminated water, and when it is heated by the sun, a clean, clean water vapor is soon released through evaporation. But while the aquacultures are filled with liquid, atmosphere is more solid, and it contains solid pores that can transport liquid water or water vapor. Aerogels was tested as a means of desalination, but it is limited by the evaporation performance, which refuses with the increase in the size of the material. Therefore, Shi Shin and his colleagues wanted Airgel designed porous water desalination that maintained its efficiency in different sizes.

The researchers made a dough containing carbon nanopolis and cellulose fibers, then it was printed by three -dimensional on a frozen surface, allowing each layer to harden before adding the following. This process formed a sponge -like substance with small vertical holes distributed evenly, each of which is about 20 micrometers. Test square pieces of the material, ranging from 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) to about 3 inches (8 centimeters), and found that the largest pieces that launch water by evaporating at effective rates such as the smallest.

In an outdoor test, researchers put the material in a cup containing sea water, and it was covered with a curved and transparent plastic cover. The sunlight heats up the upper part of the sponge, and the water evaporates only, not salt, in water vapor. The steam was collected on the plastic cap as liquid, and the clean water is now moving to the edges, where it was dried in the suppression and the bottom of the cup. After 6 hours in natural sunlight, the system generated about 3 tablespoons of drinking water.

“Our Airgel allows our full analysis of any size, which provides a simple and developmental solution to energy -free water desalination to produce clean water,” says Shin.

The authors admit funding from the National Corporation for Natural Sciences in China, the Hong Kong Sar Research Council, the Hong Kong Sar Environment and Conservation Fund, and the Hong Kong University of Applied Arts.