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Stretchable and Superhydrophilic Polyaniline/Halloysite Decorated Nanofiber Composite Evaporator for High Efficiency Seawater Desalination

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Abstract

Here, authors report on composition of a stretchable, mechanically durable and superhydrophilic polyaniline (PANI)/halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) decorated PU nanofiber (PANI/HNTs@PU). The polymer nanofibers are placed as the core and PANI/HNTs makes the shell section. The PANI/HNTs creates a membrane with outstanding light absorption and photothermal conversion performance. The strong solar absorption capability and superhydrophilicity of the PANI/HNTs@PU remain almost unchanged during stretching, abrasion, and ultrasonic washing tests, exhibiting superior surface stability and durability. When the PANI/HNTs@PU is used for the interfacial evaporation, the evaporation rate and efficiency reach as high as 1.61 kg m− 2 h− 1 and 94.7%, respectively. No salt precipitation is observed on the solar absorber surface even under a high salinity or during the long term or cyclic evaporation test. Furthermore, the excellent interfacial evaporation function is maintained when the nanofiber composite is mechanically stretched. The PANI/HNTs@PU based evaporation device shows promising applications in high performance solar desalination.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51873178), the Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering (Sichuan University) (No. sklpme2020-4-03), Qing Lan Project of Yangzhou University and Jiangsu Province, High-end Talent Project of Yangzhou University, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu province (No. KYCX18_2364, No. KYCX20_2977) and Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Fund of Yangzhou University.

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  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, Jiangsu, China

    Jiang Han, Wenqian Xing, Jun Yan, Jing Wen, Yuntao Liu, Yuqing Wang, Zefeng Wu & Jiefeng Gao

  2. Key Laboratory of Organosilicon Chemistry and Material Technology of Ministry of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China

    Longcheng Tang & Jiefeng Gao

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  1. Jiang Han
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  2. Wenqian Xing
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Correspondence to Jiefeng Gao.

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Han, J., Xing, W., Yan, J. et al. Stretchable and Superhydrophilic Polyaniline/Halloysite Decorated Nanofiber Composite Evaporator for High Efficiency Seawater Desalination. Adv. Fiber Mater. 4, 1233–1245 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42765-022-00172-5

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