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 项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力正在通过节能、经济、便携和可扩展的解决方案满足对可持续水净化和具有成本效益的相分离日益增长的需求。全世界有超过十亿人无法获得清洁的饮用水。大多数现有的水净化和相分离技术主要使用传统燃料的能源，增加了其运行成本并限制了其应用。所提出的纳米光子学太阳能膜蒸馏（NESMD）技术利用太阳能来蒸发水和其他可能感兴趣的液体。 NESMD 系统节能、便携且可扩展尺寸，适用于家庭、商业和工业水净化。使用 NESMD 进行具有成本效益的相分离对于石油和相关行业也很有吸引力。该 I-Corps 项目专注于无电水净化和相分离。支持纳米光子学的太阳能膜蒸馏（NESMD）系统由涂有吸光碳基纳米材料的聚合物膜组成，可有效吸收入射阳光。半透膜顶部薄层内将光转化为热的能力使得液体能够有效地局部转化为气相。该膜可用于与盐水/污水或有机溶剂的混合物接触，使吸收的阳光产生的热量通过膜引起汽化，从而将感兴趣的液体与非挥发性成分（如盐、重金属、细菌或盐）分开。其他液体。 NESMD 系统的概念验证实验室规模研究表明，该系统可实现高效水净化，脱盐率超过 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于水净化和相分离市场的价值。