Sustainable biomimetic solar distillation with edge crystallization for passive salt collection and zero brine discharge.

ABSTRACT: The urgency of addressing water scarcity and exponential population rise has necessitated the use of sustainable desalination for clean water production, while conventional thermal desalination processes consume fossil fuel with brine rejection. As a promising solution to sustainable solar thermal distillation, we report a scalable mangrove-mimicked device for direct solar vapor generation and passive salt collection without brine discharge. Capillarity-driven salty water supply and continuous vapor generation are ensured by anti-corrosion porous wicking stem and multi-layer leaves, which are made of low-cost superhydrophilic nanostructured titanium meshes. Precipitated salt at the leaf edge forms porous patch during daytime evaporation and get peeled by gravity during night when saline wa

SUBMITTER: Abdelsalam MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10825211 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature