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Porous wood-carbonized solar steam evaporator

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Abstract

Solar energy used to evaporate seawater and purify fresh water is regarded as an innovative way to address water scarcity. In this paper, high-performance porous wood-carbonized solar steam evaporation (SSE) is proposed by regulating the surface carbonization process, and the evaporation performance of the SSE under different carbonization degrees is studied. The results show that the variation in carbonization degree treatment can significantly affect the photothermal conversion characteristics, which in turn affect the evaporation efficiency of solar steam evaporation. Surprisingly, at 1 sun equivalent input, this evaporator exhibits a low thermal conductivity (0.17 W m−1 K−1), high solar energy absorption rate (92.5%), high surface temperature (49.5 °C) and evaporation efficiency (78%). When the surface carbonization degree of the SSE is 20%, an excellent thermal conductivity coefficient (0.33 W m−1 K−1) is available by the efficient water conduction ability. Additionally, an outstanding evaporation rate (1.8 kg m−2 h−1) of the SSE can be obtained, which is significantly superior to that of the reported wood-based evaporators. Due to its simple preparation, wood-based SSE with recyclability, low-cost and extraordinary performance can be expected to provide potential fresh water for commercial and renewable applications.

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Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (Grant No. 2018M630330 and 2019T120245), Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (Grant No. QC2018046), National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51905085), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2572019BF12).

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Author notes

  1. Wenzong Li, Fei Li and Dan Zhang, these authors contributed the same.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Province Key Laboratory of Forestry Intelligent Equipment Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150000, People’s Republic of China

    Wenzong Li, Fei Li & Zhuangzhi Sun

  2. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science & Technology, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150000, People’s Republic of China

    Wenzong Li, Fei Li & Zhuangzhi Sun

  3. College of International Education, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150000, People’s Republic of China

    Dan Zhang

  4. The 8th Institute of Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Shanghai, 201109, People’s Republic of China

    Fuguo Bian

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  1. Wenzong Li
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Correspondence to Zhuangzhi Sun.

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Li, W., Li, F., Zhang, D. et al. Porous wood-carbonized solar steam evaporator. Wood Sci Technol 55, 625–637 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-021-01270-0

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