Electrospinning Machine| Bioinspired photothermal zwitterionic fibrous membrane forhigh-efficiency solardesalination and electricity generation

Challenge: Solar-driven desalination technology holds promise for addressing global freshwater shortages. However, salt accumulation remains a major challenge, especially for 2D membrane materials.

Method: Prof. Liao Yaozu and Associate Researcher Meng Nan's team at Donghua University, inspired by aquaporins, designed a porous zwitterionic fiber membrane via electrospinning combined with in-situ oxidative polymerization. This membrane selectively transports water while rejecting Na⁺ and Cl⁻, enabling efficient evaporation and salt resistance.

Innovation 1: The incorporation of porphyrin-based conjugated microporous polymers enhances photothermal conversion and antibacterial properties, while zwitterionic groups and the porous structure disrupt high salinity gradients, effectively preventing salt deposition.

Innovation 2: Under 1 kW m⁻² solar irradiation, the membrane achieves an evaporation rate of 2.64 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ with 97.6% photothermal efficiency. Additionally, coupling the photothermal evaporator with a thermoelectric module yields stable power output (density: 1.5 W m⁻²).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61244-9