Publication

Abstract : Interfacial solar-driven evaporation technique is an environmental friendly and cost-effective advanced approach for water purification using solar energy. Free energy sources are effectively utilized using the structural design of evaporators and functional materials. In this work, we have fabricated a solar-driven interfacial evaporation device with Banana Pseudo Stem (BPS) and a photothermal layer made up of PVA PDMS Carbon (PPC) is attached to it. High evaporation rate of 2.03 kg m−2 h−1 is achieved by the system under 1 sun illumination. Heat localization on interfacial surface, reflectance of photothermal layer, presence of micro-fluidic channels in BPS were studied using IR imaging, UV-DRS and SEM characterization techniques, respectively. Effective localization of interfacial temperature around 53 °C and very low reflectance of photothermal layer substantiates high photothermal conversion efficiency of the device. The complete purification of water containing high concentration of Rhodamine-B dye using BPS is a novel and simple approach for water purification. This is an eco-friendly, cost-efficient novel approach in fabrication of interfacial solar-driven evaporation system with high evaporation rate for purification of water containing high concentration of organic dye.