Iron Based Chitin Composite Films for Efficient Solar Seawater Desalination

Abstract

Seawater desalination provides a convenient method for the sustainable production of fresh water. However, the preparation of low-cost, high-efficiency solar absorbers remains a huge challenge. To this end, our research group designed and produced a cheap absorber—a membrane made of natural polymer chitin with black FeS and Fe3O4, respectively. Due to the hierarchical pore structure, excellent photothermal performance and good hydrophilicity of the film, their water evaporation rates reached 1.47 kg/m2/h and 1.55 kg/m2/h under one sunlight, respectively. Under about 10 suns, the highest desalination efficiency of FeS/chitin and Fe3O4/chitin are 90% and 74%, respectively, and their salinities are also in line with the World Health Organization drinking water standards. These results indicate the potential of chitin-based nanomaterials as high-efficiency solar absorbers to produce fresh water.