Source abstract
Abstract
The freshwater scarcity and increasing energy demand are two challenging global issues. Herein, we propose a new route for desalination, self-sustained visible-light-driven electrochemical redox desalination. We propose a novel device architecture involving internal integration of a quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell and continuous redox-flow desalination units with a bifunctional platinized-graphite-paper electrode. Both the solar cell and redox-flow desalination units are integrated using the bifunctional electrode with one side facing the solar cell operating as a positive electrode and the other side facing the redox-flow desalination unit operating as a negative electrode. The solar cell contains a gel-based tri-iodide/iodide redox couple sandwiched between an N719 dye-modified photoanode and cathode. In contrast, the redox-flow desalination consists of re-circulating ferro/ferricyanide redox couple sandwiched between the anode and cathode with two salt streams located between these electrodes. The performances of bifunctional electrodes in both redox couples were thoroughly investigated by electrochemical characterization. The brackish feed can be continuously desalted to the freshwater level by utilizing visible light illumination. As a device, this architecture combines energy conversion and water desalination. This concept bypasses the need for electrical energy consumption for desalination, which provides a novel structural design using photodesalination to facilitate the development of self-sustained solar desalination technologies.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline
Affiliations
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Efficient Green Energy and Environment Protection Materials, School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China
Department of Physics, Materials Sciences Research Laboratory, University of Mandalay, Mahaaungmyay township, 05032 Mandalay, Myanmar
INM - Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Campus D2 2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Saarland University, Campus D2 2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
UNSW Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
Funding
Guangdong Science and Technology Department · Department of Education of Guangdong Province · South China Normal University · Outstanding Young Scholar Project