Janus Photothermal Membrane as an Energy Generator and a Mass-Transfer Accelerator for High-Efficiency Solar-Driven Membrane Distillation

Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging membrane-based evaporation technology with great promise for the desalination and separation industries. However, its widespread application still depends on substantial development to increase the distillation flux, reduce the energy consumption, and extend the lifespan of the membrane. Herein, we report for the first time the integration of multiple functions, that is, energy-saving, flux-enhancing, and anti-fouling properties, into a single membrane. Such a membrane was fabricated by coating the top surface of a poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) nanofibrous mat with photothermal and hydrophobic graphitic carbon spheres and subsequently coating the bottom surface with a hydrophilic polydopamine layer, yielding a novel Janus photothermal membrane (JPTM). Owing to the high photothermal efficiency and accelerated mass transport across the membrane, the JPTM demonstrated an excellent desalination performance when assembled into a solar-driven MD system, with a distillation flux of 1.29 kg m–2 h–1, which is 10 times higher than that of the conventional un-modified PVDF-HFP membrane, requiring only 1 kW m–2 solar illumination as the energy input.