Grantee Research Project Results
2021 Progress Report: Efficient Solar-Driven Water Desalination based on Nanomaterial Design
EPA Grant Number: SU840163Title: Efficient Solar-Driven Water Desalination based on Nanomaterial Design
Investigators: Zhu, Zhengtao
Institution: South Dakota Schools of Mines and Technology
EPA Project Officer: Spatz, Kyle
Phase: I
Project Period: December 1, 2020 through November 30, 2021 (Extended to November 30, 2022)
Project Period Covered by this Report: December 1, 2020 through November 30,2021
Project Amount: $25,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2020) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources
Objective:
This proposal aims to develop innovative nanomaterials and a solar still apparatus for desalination of brackish groundwater. Current desalinization and purification technologies including reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, thermal distillation, and membrane distillation are energy demanding, limiting their usage in remote areas. The proposed project will take an innovative approach of solar-driven vapor generation by developing fabrics composed of a strong solar absorber and microstructures.
Progress Summary:
During the first year of the project, various photothermal materials and structures were synthesized and fabricated and these materials were evaluated and optimized for solar water purification at the lab setting. Some preliminary testing of our fabrics was performed with a solar still during summer 2021. We have been working on portable solar still design and construction to accelerate evaporation for our photothermal fabrics. The quality of the purified water by solar still was evaluated and the results showed that the quality would be comparable with the water purified by other technologies such as reserve osmosis.
Future Activities:
To complete the project, we will continue our tasks to mee the milestones of the project. For the fabric design and preparation, we will work on optimization of carbon black and the hydrophobic coating of the fabrics and scaleup of the process. For building and testing of the solar still, we will focus on completion of the two prototype solar stills we are working on and testing of their performance using control and designed fabrics. For assembly and testing of fully functional setup, we will collect data during the summer of 2022 to complete the optimized nanomaterial based solar still setup. Finally, we will complete the project with a final report.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
solar energy, water purification technologies, drinking waterProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.