Solar Driven Interfacial Steam Generation Derived from Biodegradable Luffa Sponge for efficient and cost-effect water purification

Title : Solar Driven Interfacial Steam Generation Derived from Biodegradable Luffa Sponge for efficient and cost-effect water purification

Abstract:

A chemically treated luffa sponge (LS) derived from the ripe fruit of the Luffa cylindrica (LC) plant was investigated as an efficient solar photothermal conversion material for water purification applications for the very first time. Hydrophilicity and solar absorbance of the LS were enhanced by dopamine treatment and candle soot surface coating. The fabricated surface modified LS (SM-LS) leads to achieving a superb solar evaporation rate of water as high as 1.30 kg m^–2 h^–1, which is 5 times higher than that of the freshwater under 1 sun illumination. The outdoor experiment has shown an excellent solar evaporation efficiency of 79.98%, which is significantly higher than other low-cost materials. Such SM-LS can be further applied to desalinate the seawater, where it has been examined that 1 m² of surface-modified LS can produce 7.5–8 L of freshwater per day. Hence, the proposed system can be utilized in remote areas and refugee camps.

Audience take-away:

• The audience will be able to learn about the interfacial solar steam generation technique and will observe how a simple biodegradable material can be converted into an efficient solar absorber that can convert seawater into drinkable water.
• There is a huge demand of this water desalination system specially in the remote areas. Therefore, the audience can get an idea which can help them to implement in real life.
• This also provide a practical solution for the water desalination problem which can be implemented in African countries and in refugee camps.
• The benefits are as follows:
  • 1^st demonstration of chemically treated luffa sponge as an efficient solar photothermal conversion material.
  • 5 times higher solar evaporation efficiency than the natural process.
  • Solar evaporation rate as high as 1.30 kg m^-2 h^-1 was achieved under 1 sun.
  • 79.98% evaporation efficiency was achieved during outdoor desalination experiment.
  • The prototype can produce 7.5−8 L of clean water daily with 1m² material.
  • Cost-effective solution for producing freshwater in remote locations and refugee camps.

Biography:

Ahmed M. Saleque received BSc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and MEngg in Telecommunications from American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) in 2010 and 2012 respectively. In 2015, he received joint Erasmus Mundus MSc degree from University of Nottingham, University of Oviedo, and University of Rome and also a visiting scholar at the WEMPEC laboratory, University of Wisconsin Madison, USA. He was an Assistant Professor at AIUB. In 2019, he was awarded the Hong Kong Ph.D. fellowship and currently pursuing Ph.D. in Applied Physics from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests include Interfacial Steam Generation, Perovskite solar cell and biosensors.