Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SEAFRONT (Passive Solar Evaporators for Green Desalination Technologies)
Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2024-10-31
Water scarcity affects over 1.1 billion people globally, with 2.7 billion experiencing shortages for at least one month each year. This project addresses the crisis by developing deployable, low-cost, and efficient passive solar desalination devices using optimized hydrogels, targeting off-grid and water-scarce regions like remote islands and arid climates.
Hydrogels, with their hydrophilic, thermally insulating, and tunable structures, enable high solar-to-vapor conversion efficiencies with minimal energy input. However, current hydrogel-based evaporators are limited by structural instability, limited understanding of transport properties, and high costs. To overcome these challenges, we employ advanced X-ray inspection techniques (XRI) at facilities like the Advanced Photon Source to investigate capillary flow, polymer swelling, and thermal diffusion, driving the design of high-performance hydrogel materials. The project’s potential impact is significant. With over half the global population facing water access challenges, scalable hydrogel-based desalination systems can provide potable water for households, communities, and industries, while supporting agriculture and disaster relief. The modular design ensures adaptability across diverse needs.
Technologically, the novel use of XRI advances the understanding of hydrogel dynamics, enabling major performance improvements. Economically, lower production costs democratize access to clean water, reducing reliance on centralized, fossil-fuel-driven infrastructure. Environmentally, passive solar desalination supports global climate neutrality goals by eliminating non-renewable energy inputs. Socially, providing clean water to underserved communities fosters gender equity and improves quality of life.
By integrating advanced materials, state-of-the-art imaging, and a focus on scalability, this project offers a transformative solution to global water scarcity and advances sustainable development.
Hydrogels, with their hydrophilic, thermally insulating, and tunable structures, enable high solar-to-vapor conversion efficiencies with minimal energy input. However, current hydrogel-based evaporators are limited by structural instability, limited understanding of transport properties, and high costs. To overcome these challenges, we employ advanced X-ray inspection techniques (XRI) at facilities like the Advanced Photon Source to investigate capillary flow, polymer swelling, and thermal diffusion, driving the design of high-performance hydrogel materials. The project’s potential impact is significant. With over half the global population facing water access challenges, scalable hydrogel-based desalination systems can provide potable water for households, communities, and industries, while supporting agriculture and disaster relief. The modular design ensures adaptability across diverse needs.
Technologically, the novel use of XRI advances the understanding of hydrogel dynamics, enabling major performance improvements. Economically, lower production costs democratize access to clean water, reducing reliance on centralized, fossil-fuel-driven infrastructure. Environmentally, passive solar desalination supports global climate neutrality goals by eliminating non-renewable energy inputs. Socially, providing clean water to underserved communities fosters gender equity and improves quality of life.
By integrating advanced materials, state-of-the-art imaging, and a focus on scalability, this project offers a transformative solution to global water scarcity and advances sustainable development.
This project adopted a multidisciplinary approach to address water scarcity through advances in materials science, geospatial mapping, and sustainability analytics. Key activities and achievements include:
1. Mechanistic Study of Salt Creeping
Activity: Conducted in situ X-ray characterization to monitor evaporation-driven crystallization on hydrophilic surfaces.
Achievements:
Demonstrated cascading crystallization initiated by pinned salt crystals, offering critical insights into salt migration and deposition.
Developed a thermodynamic model linking critical contact angles to salt creeping initiation and propagation.
Generated high-resolution 3D imaging of pore structure and transport dynamics using X-ray microscopy.
2. Development of Porous Hydrogels
Activity: Investigated and optimized porous hygroscopic hydrogels for solar desalination and water harvesting.
Achievements:
Fabricated hydrogels with tunable pore size and porosity using freeze-drying and salt-templating techniques to enhance sorption efficiency.
Applied Micro-CT imaging to study swelling behavior and pore evolution under varying humidity, providing key insights into sorption kinetics and structural durability.
Developed an analytical model coupling capillary-driven imbibition and diffusion to better predict hydrogel performance in practical conditions.
3. Geospatial Mapping and Technoeconomic Analysis
Activity: Mapped global water scarcity indicators by integrating datasets on relative humidity, solar irradiance, and GDP.
Achievements:
Created detailed maps identifying high-potential regions for water-harvesting technologies based on environmental and economic factors.
Correlated water scarcity with GDP to prioritize deployment strategies for maximum social and economic impact.
Identified target regions where low-cost, off-grid solutions could have the greatest transformational effect, such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
1. Mechanistic Study of Salt Creeping
Activity: Conducted in situ X-ray characterization to monitor evaporation-driven crystallization on hydrophilic surfaces.
Achievements:
Demonstrated cascading crystallization initiated by pinned salt crystals, offering critical insights into salt migration and deposition.
Developed a thermodynamic model linking critical contact angles to salt creeping initiation and propagation.
Generated high-resolution 3D imaging of pore structure and transport dynamics using X-ray microscopy.
2. Development of Porous Hydrogels
Activity: Investigated and optimized porous hygroscopic hydrogels for solar desalination and water harvesting.
Achievements:
Fabricated hydrogels with tunable pore size and porosity using freeze-drying and salt-templating techniques to enhance sorption efficiency.
Applied Micro-CT imaging to study swelling behavior and pore evolution under varying humidity, providing key insights into sorption kinetics and structural durability.
Developed an analytical model coupling capillary-driven imbibition and diffusion to better predict hydrogel performance in practical conditions.
3. Geospatial Mapping and Technoeconomic Analysis
Activity: Mapped global water scarcity indicators by integrating datasets on relative humidity, solar irradiance, and GDP.
Achievements:
Created detailed maps identifying high-potential regions for water-harvesting technologies based on environmental and economic factors.
Correlated water scarcity with GDP to prioritize deployment strategies for maximum social and economic impact.
Identified target regions where low-cost, off-grid solutions could have the greatest transformational effect, such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
The outcomes of this project mark major advances in materials science, geospatial analysis, and sustainable technology, offering transformative solutions to water scarcity. Below is an overview of key results, potential impacts, and future needs for broader adoption.
Results
Advancements in Salt Creeping Understanding
Key Insights: Demonstrated cascading crystallization processes and established the role of critical contact angles and capillary dynamics in salt creeping.
Applications: Informs strategies to prevent salt fouling in industrial processes and aids the design of mineral extraction and wastewater treatment systems.
Optimization of Porous Hydrogels
Key Insights: Fabricated porous hydrogels with tunable structures, improving water absorption, solar vapor generation, and mechanical durability.
Applications: Developed hydrogels for solar desalination, atmospheric water harvesting, and thermal management.
Geospatial Mapping for Deployment Strategy
Key Insights: Created maps correlating water scarcity, relative humidity, solar irradiance, and GDP to prioritize deployment regions.
Applications: Guides targeted interventions in high-need areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Impact
Environmental: Reduces reliance on fossil-fuel desalination, supporting climate neutrality goals while offering decentralized, sustainable water solutions.
Economic and Social: Provides affordable clean water, reduces burdens on underserved populations (especially women and children), and creates local economic opportunities through manufacturing and maintenance.
Key Needs for Further Uptake and Success
Demonstration and Scaling: Conduct large-scale field pilots to validate technology performance, drive user acceptance, and optimize modular systems for agriculture, disaster relief, and industrial cooling.
Market Access and Commercialization: Build partnerships with governments, NGOs, and private stakeholders to accelerate deployment and develop financial models to ensure affordability, especially in low-income markets.
Intellectual Property and Internationalization: Secure IP protections for hydrogel formulations and device designs, and pursue international collaborations to speed global adoption.
Results
Advancements in Salt Creeping Understanding
Key Insights: Demonstrated cascading crystallization processes and established the role of critical contact angles and capillary dynamics in salt creeping.
Applications: Informs strategies to prevent salt fouling in industrial processes and aids the design of mineral extraction and wastewater treatment systems.
Optimization of Porous Hydrogels
Key Insights: Fabricated porous hydrogels with tunable structures, improving water absorption, solar vapor generation, and mechanical durability.
Applications: Developed hydrogels for solar desalination, atmospheric water harvesting, and thermal management.
Geospatial Mapping for Deployment Strategy
Key Insights: Created maps correlating water scarcity, relative humidity, solar irradiance, and GDP to prioritize deployment regions.
Applications: Guides targeted interventions in high-need areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Impact
Environmental: Reduces reliance on fossil-fuel desalination, supporting climate neutrality goals while offering decentralized, sustainable water solutions.
Economic and Social: Provides affordable clean water, reduces burdens on underserved populations (especially women and children), and creates local economic opportunities through manufacturing and maintenance.
Key Needs for Further Uptake and Success
Demonstration and Scaling: Conduct large-scale field pilots to validate technology performance, drive user acceptance, and optimize modular systems for agriculture, disaster relief, and industrial cooling.
Market Access and Commercialization: Build partnerships with governments, NGOs, and private stakeholders to accelerate deployment and develop financial models to ensure affordability, especially in low-income markets.
Intellectual Property and Internationalization: Secure IP protections for hydrogel formulations and device designs, and pursue international collaborations to speed global adoption.