Abstract Sustainable green energy technologies have paid much attention to the development of a solar-driven seawater desalination technique due to its ecofriendly and efficient desalination performance. We propose a novel hybrid hydrogel consisting of conducting polymer of polypyrrole (PPy) and polyvalent cations crosslinked alginate (Alg) with strong repulsive force for simultaneous seawater desalination and electricity generation. The strong repulsive force of polyvalent cations crosslinked with Alg selectively rejects salt cations by inducing reverse salinity gradient against the rapid evaporation-induced salt accumulation on the upper surface of the solar evaporator. The proposed PPy–incorporated Alg (PPy/Alg) hydrogel exhibits an evaporation rate of 1.15 kg h−1 m−2 with a conversion efficiency of 54.12% under 1 sun solar irradiation. In addition, this hydrogel has an excellent crystalline antifouling property, and can be easily scaled-up with maintaining solar desalination performance. Depending on the compositions of PPy and Alg, the spontaneous electricity generation is largely affected by the balance between the decreased salinity gradient by the accumulation of salt cations and the increased salinity gradient by the strong repulsive force. The present results would pave a novel way for the development of sustainable electricity generation in combination with solar-driven seawater desalination by a facile methodology and energy-friendly process.

中文翻译：

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使用多价交联聚吡咯/海藻酸盐水凝胶同时太阳能驱动海水淡化和自发发电

摘要 太阳能驱动的海水淡化技术以其环保、高效的淡化性能而备受关注。我们提出了一种新型混合水凝胶，由聚吡咯 (PPy) 和多价阳离子交联海藻酸盐 (Alg) 的导电聚合物组成，具有强大的排斥力，可同时用于海水淡化和发电。与 Alg 交联的多价阳离子的强排斥力通过诱导反向盐度梯度来选择性地排斥盐阳离子，以对抗太阳能蒸发器上表面快速蒸发引起的盐分积累。所提出的掺入 PPy 的 Alg（PPy/Alg）水凝胶在 1 次太阳照射下的蒸发率为 1.15 kg h-1 m-2，转换效率为 54.12%。此外，这种水凝胶具有优异的结晶防污性能，并且可以在保持太阳能淡化性能的情况下轻松放大。根据 PPy 和 Alg 的组成，自发发电在很大程度上受到盐阳离子积累降低的盐度梯度和强排斥力增加的盐度梯度之间的平衡的影响。目前的结果将为可持续发电与太阳能驱动的海水淡化相结合，通过一种简便的方法和能源友好的过程，为发展可持续发电铺平道路。自发发电在很大程度上受盐阳离子积累降低的盐度梯度与强排斥力增加的盐度梯度之间的平衡影响。目前的结果将为可持续发电与太阳能驱动的海水淡化相结合，通过一种简便的方法和能源友好的过程，为发展可持续发电铺平道路。自发发电在很大程度上受盐阳离子积累降低的盐度梯度与强排斥力增加的盐度梯度之间的平衡影响。目前的结果将为通过简单的方法和能源友好的过程结合太阳能驱动的海水淡化发展可持续发电铺平道路。