Zhiyue Dong, Chongrui Zhang, Huawen Peng, Jiang Gong, Qiang Zhao*. Modular design of solar-thermal nanofluidics for advanced desalination membranes. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2020) Accept

The water nanofluidics in confined channels has endowed pressure-driven separation membranes with superior permeability. However, nanofluidic effect in solar-thermal steaming materials is hindered by discrete heat absorbers and nanochannels. Here we report the modular design of solar-thermal nanofluidics by integrating carbon nanotubes and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) through a self-crosslinkable polyelectrolyte under mild conditions. The uniformly dispersed carbon nanotubes permit efficient sunlight absorption for localized heat transfer. Subsequently, water molecules form clusters in the nanochannels of MOF nanoparticles, and the water vaporization enthalpy was reduced by 45% due to the water nanofluidics, which was confirmed by both the simulation and thermal characterizations. As such, the mixed matrix membrane exhibited exceptional combination of high evaporation rate (2.56 kg/m2/h, under 1 sun irradiation) with stability versus recycling, solvents, solution pH (1, 13) and oil fouling. These findings provide a modular design of MOFs evaporators featuring high performance arising from the solar-thermal nanofluidics.