Carbon Black/Polyvinylidene Fluoride Nanocomposite Membranes for Direct Solar Distillation

Marcello Pagliero, Marina Alloisio, Camilla Costa, Raffaella Firpo, Ermias Ararsa Mideksa and Antonio Comite
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Marcello Pagliero: Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
Marina Alloisio: Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
Camilla Costa: Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
Raffaella Firpo: Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
Ermias Ararsa Mideksa: Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
Antonio Comite: Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: Water reclamation is becoming a growing need, in particular in developing countries where harvesting the required energy can be a challenging problem. In this context, exploiting solar energy in a specifically tailored membrane distillation (MD) process can be a viable solution. Traditional MD guarantees a complete retention of non-volatile compounds and does not require high feed water temperatures. In this work, a suitable amount of carbon black (CB) was incorporated into the whole matrix of a polymeric porous membrane in order to absorb light and directly heat the feed. The mixed matrix membranes were prepared forming a uniform CB dispersion in the PVDF dope solution and then using a non-solvent induced phase separation process, which is a well-established technique for membrane manufacturing. CB addition was found to be beneficial on both the membrane structure, as it increased the pore size and porosity, and on the photothermal properties of the matrix. In fact, temperatures as high as 60 °C were reached on the irradiated membrane surface. These improvements led to satisfactory distillate flux (up to 2.3 L/m 2 h) during the direct solar membrane distillation tests performed with artificial light sources and make this membrane type a promising candidate for practical applications in the field of water purification.

Keywords: carbon black; photothermal; direct solar membrane distillation; PVDF; renewable energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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