title: Photothermal Membrane Distillation for Seawater Desalination.
abstract: Thermoplasmonic effects notably improve the efficiency of vacuum membrane distillation, an economically sustainable tool for high-quality seawater desalination. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes filled with spherical silver nanoparticles are used, whose size is tuned for the aim. With the addition of plasmonic nanoparticles in the membrane, the transmembrane flux increases by 11 times, and, moreover, the temperature at the membrane interface is higher than bulk temperature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci cubo 31/C, 87036, Rende, (CS), Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Politano
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering DIATIC, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci cubo 45A, 87036, Rende, (CS), Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Argurio
authors.affiliation: Institute on Membrane Technology, National Research Council of Italy (ITM-CNR), Via P. Bucci cubo 17C, 87036, Rende, (CS), Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Profio
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Laboratory of Nanomedicine, University of Sassari, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Vanna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sanna
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci cubo 31/C, 87036, Rende, (CS), Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cupolillo
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWater), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Sudip
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWater), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Hassan A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Arafat
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering DIATIC, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci cubo 45A, 87036, Rende, (CS), Italy.|Institute on Membrane Technology, National Research Council of Italy (ITM-CNR), Via P. Bucci cubo 17C, 87036, Rende, (CS), Italy.
authors.forename: Efrem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Curcio
keywords: membrane distillation; seawater desalination; surface plasmon resonances