I-Corps: Nanophotonics Enabled Solar Membrane Distillation

I-Corps：纳米光子学支持的太阳能膜蒸馏

• 批准号: 1745213
• 负责人: Naomi Halas
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-07-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1745213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Nanophotonics; Enabled; Solar; Membrane

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is addressing the increasing demand for sustainable water purification and cost-effective phase separation with an energy-efficient, economical, portable and scalable solution. More than a billion people around the world lack access to clean drinking water. Most of the existing technologies for water purification and phase separation mainly use energy from conventional fuels increasing their operating cost and limiting their application. The proposed technology of Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation (NESMD) uses solar energy to vaporize water and potentially other liquids of interest. NESMD system is energy-efficient, portable and can be scaled in size making it suitable for household, commercial and industrial water purification. Cost-effective phase separation with NESMD can be attractive for petroleum and related industries as well.This I-Corps project focuses on electricity-free water purification and phase separation. Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation (NESMD) system consists of a polymer membrane coated with light-absorbing carbon-based nanomaterials which efficiently absorb incident sunlight. The capability of converting light into heat within a thin layer on top of a semipermeable membrane allows an efficient local conversion of liquid to its vapor phase. This membrane can be used in contact with saline/polluted water or a mixture of organic solvents allowing the heat from the absorbed sunlight to induce vaporization through the membrane separating the liquid of interest from non-volatile components such as salts, heavy metals, bacteria or other liquids. Proof-of-concept lab-scale studies of the NESMD system show efficient water purification with more than 99.5% salt rejection. Through this I-Corps project the team wants to further assess and investigate the value of this technology for water purification and phase separation market.

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是解决对可持续水净化和具有成本效益的相位分离的需求日益增长的需求，并具有节能，经济，便携式和可扩展的解决方案。世界各地有超过十亿人无法获得清洁饮用水。大多数现有的水净化和相分离技术主要利用传统燃料来增加其运营成本并限制其应用。拟议的基于纳米素养的太阳膜蒸馏（NESMD）的技术使用太阳能来蒸发水和潜在的其他感兴趣液体。 NESMD系统具有节能，便携式，可以缩放尺寸，使其适合家庭，商业和工业水净化。具有成本效益的NESMD相位分离对石油和相关行业也可能具有吸引力。该I-Corps项目着重于无电水净化和相位分离。支持纳米素化学的太阳膜蒸馏（NESMD）系统由涂有浅碳基纳米材料的聚合物膜组成，有效地吸收了入射阳光。将光转化为半透明膜顶部的薄层内的热量的能力，可以有效地将液体转化为蒸气相。该膜可用于与盐水/污染水接触或有机溶剂的混合物，从而使吸收的阳光的热量通过膜与非挥发性成分（如盐，重金属，细菌或细菌或细菌或细菌或细菌或细菌或非挥发性成分）诱导蒸发诱导蒸发其他液体。 NESMD系统的概念验证实验室规模研究显示出有效的水纯化，盐排斥超过99.5％。通过这个I-Corps项目，团队希望进一步评估和研究该技术对净水和相位分离市场的价值。