Origami Inspires Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generator
September 21, 2018 | ACSEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Water covers most of the globe, yet many regions still suffer from a lack of clean drinking water. If scientists could efficiently and sustainably turn seawater into clean water, a looming global water crisis might be averted. Now, inspired by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, researchers have devised a solar steam generator that approaches 100% efficiency for the production of clean water. They report their results in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Solar steam generators produce clean water by converting energy from the sun into heat, which evaporates seawater, leaving salts and other impurities behind. Then, the steam is collected and condensed into clean water. Existing solar steam generators contain a flat photothermal material, which produces heat from absorbed light. Although these devices are fairly efficient, they still lose energy by heat dissipation from the material into the air. Peng Wang and colleagues wondered if they could improve energy efficiency by designing a three-dimensional photothermal material. They based their structure on the Miura fold of origami, which consists of interlocking parallelograms that form “mountains” and “valleys” within the 3D structure.
The researchers made their solar steam generator by depositing a light-absorbing nanocarbon composite onto a cellulose membrane that was patterned with the Miura fold. They found that their 3D device had a 50% higher evaporation rate than a flat 2D device. In addition, the efficiency of the 3D structure approached 100%, compared with 71% for the 2D material. The researchers say that, compared to a flat surface, origami “valleys” capture the sunlight better so that less is lost to reflection. In addition, heat can flow from the valleys toward the cooler “mountains,” evaporating water along the way instead of being lost to the air.
Suggested Items
VDMA: Machine Vision Navigating Through Uncertain Times
04/18/2024 | VDMAFor over a decade, the European machine vision industry has reported steady growth, with turnover increasing by an average of 9 percent annually between 2012 and 2022. Despite a temporary setback in 2020 (minus 4 percent) due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry rebounded strongly in 2021 (plus 17 percent) and 2022 (plus 11 percent).
RTX Provides Blue Canyon Satellite to Help Solve a Crucial Climate Challenge
04/16/2024 | RTXBlue Canyon Technologies, RTX's small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, announced the successful launch and initial contact with the MethaneSAT satellite.
Europe’s IT, Business Services Sector on the Rebound in Q1: ISG Index
04/15/2024 | BUSINESS WIREEurope’s demand for IT and business services in the first quarter rose for the first time in a year, powered by growth from the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector, according to the latest state-of-the-industry report from Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
Infineon Expands Leading Market Position in Automotive Semiconductors
04/11/2024 | InfineonInfineon Technologies AG continued to expand its leading market position in automotive semiconductors in 2023. According to the latest research by TechInsights, the global automotive semiconductor market grew by 16.5 percent in 2023, reaching a new record size of US$69.2 billion.
North American EMS Industry Up 4.1% in February
03/25/2024 | IPCIPC announced the February 2024 findings from its North American Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.22.