Solar evaporation for simultaneous oil-water separation and electricity generation with Janus wood-based absorbers

Highlights

● A protocol is proposed for simultaneous oil/water separation and electricity generation.

● Oil/water separation efficiency achieves > 99% only out of solar energy.

● A derived extra electricity power of ~0.1 W/m² is obtained under solar radiation.

● The protocol offers a prospect of solar-driven water treatment and resource recovery.

Abstract

Oily wastewater from ocean oil spills endangers marine ecosystems and human health. Therefore, developing an effective and sustainable solution for separating oil-water mixtures is urgent. Interfacial solar photothermal evaporation is a promising approach for the complete separation of two-phase mixtures using only solar energy. Herein, we report a carbonized wood-based absorber with Janus structure of comprising a hydrophobic top-layer and an oleophobic bottom-layer for simultaneous solar-driven oil-water separation and electricity generation. Under sunlight irradiation, the rapid evaporation of seawater will induce a separation of oil-water mixtures, and cause a high salt concentration region underlying the interface, while the bottom “bulk water” maintains in a low salt concentration, thus forming a salinity gradient. Electricity can be generated by salinity gradient power. Therefore, oil-water separation efficiency of > 99% and derived extra electricity power of ~0.1 W/m² is achieved under solar radiation, demonstrating the feasibility of oil-water separation and electricity production synchronously directly using solar energy. This work provides a green and cost-effective path for the separation of oil-water mixtures.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Oily wastewater / Carbonized wood / Salinity gradient / Electricity generation / Solar irradiation

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Acknowledgements

This work was financial supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22106016) and the Fellowship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2022M721556).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1775-8 and is accessible for authorized users.

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