Water transport modulation, salt recovery and evaporation-induced power generation based on MWCNTs evaporators

The interfacial photo-hot water evaporation technique combined with salt crystallization treatment is expected to be applied in practice. In this study, a 0.5-MC@FP evaporator was assembled by loading MWCNTs through filter paper and using cotton swabs as water delivery channels. The 0.5-MC@FP evaporators with different filter paper layers were prepared and tested to verify the evaporation efficiency and salt recovery performance of the 0.5-MC@FP evaporator. The results showed that the evaporation rate of 0.5-MC@FP-1 could reach 1.33 kg/m 2 h under light (1 kW/m 2 ), and the efficiency of separating vapors and salt was 80.35 %. The surface temperature of the 0.5-MC@FP evaporator could reach more than 70 °C after 240 s of light during drying time. The average evaporation rate of the 0.5-MC@FP-1 over 10 cycle days and salt recovery were 1.31 kg/(m 2 h) and 39.77 g/(m 2 h), respectively. Moreover, continuous water evaporation and marginal salt crystallization separation for 144 h could be achieved. In addition, the 0.5-MC@FP evaporator can continuously output voltage within 600 s. This work demonstrates an interfacial photothermal evaporator with cyclic continuous steam generation, salt collection, and continuous power generation, which provides a new direction for solving the problem of salt crystallization during water evaporation and water transport regulation of the evaporator.