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Topology‐Controlled Hydration of Polymer Network in Hydrogels for Solar‐Driven Wastewater Treatment
Author(s) -
Zhou Xingyi,
Guo Youhong,
Zhao Fei,
Shi Wen,
Yu Guihua
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202007012
Subject(s) - materials science , self healing hydrogels , polymer , wastewater , evaporation , chemical engineering , solar energy , evaporator , durability , molecule , nanotechnology , process engineering , composite material , environmental engineering , organic chemistry , polymer chemistry , environmental science , heat exchanger , chemistry , mechanical engineering , thermodynamics , engineering , ecology , physics , biology
Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation provides a promising method for sustainable freshwater production. However, high energy consumption of vapor generation fundamentally restricts practicality of solar‐driven wastewater treatment. Here a facile strategy is reported to control the hydration of polymer network in hydrogels, where densely cross‐linked polymers serving as a framework are functionalized by a highly hydratable polymeric network. The hydration of polymer chains generates a large amount of weakly bounded water molecules, facilitating the water evaporation. As a result, the hydrogel‐based solar evaporator can extract water from a variety of contaminants such as salts, detergents, and heavy metal components using solar energy with long‐term durability and stability. This work demonstrates an effective way to tune the interaction between water and materials at a molecular level, as well as an energy‐efficient water treatment technology toward wastewater containing complex contaminants.