Hydrogels as an Emerging Material Platform for Solar Water Purification

Growing concern over water scarcity leads to increased research interest in advanced water purification technologies. Solar water purification, which uses solar energy to separate water and impurities through vaporization, enables the utilization of sustainable energy and potential freshwater resources to alleviate water scarcity. However, the essential process of solar water evaporation to remove impurities is energy intensive. Insufficient solar absorption and thermal loss limited the vapor generation rate and, thus, lowered the purified water yield. Diffuse natural sunlight cannot satisfy the intrinsic energy demand for rapid water vaporization. Therefore, developing new material platforms that can…

• AP
  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• CA
  Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
• LM
  Lockheed Martin