title: Bioinspired Bifunctional Membrane for Efficient Clean Water Generation.
abstract: Solving the problems of water pollution and water shortage is an urgent need for the sustainable development of modern society. Different approaches, including distillation, filtration, and photocatalytic degradation, have been developed for the purification of contaminated water and the generation of clean water. In this study, we explored a new approach that uses solar light for both water purification and clean water generation. A bifunctional membrane consisting of a top layer of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), a middle layer of Au NPs, and a bottom layer of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) was designed and fabricated through multiple filtration processes. Such a design enables both TiO2 NP-based photocatalytic function and Au NP-based solar-driven plasmonic evaporation. With the integration of these two functions into a single membrane, both the purification of contaminated water through photocatalytic degradation and the generation of clean water through evaporation were demonstrated using simulated solar illumination. Such a demonstration should also help open up a new strategy for maximizing solar energy conversion and utilization.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jinwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Mengtian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chengyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
authors.forename: Neil P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D065638:Absorption, Radiation; D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010782:Photolysis; D013227:Steam; D013472:Sunlight; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D013227:Steam; D014867:Water; C009495:titanium dioxide; D006046:Gold; D014025:Titanium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide
keywords: bifunctional; evaporation; membrane; photocatalytic; water purification