A novel reduced graphene oxide based absorber for augmenting the water yield and thermal performance of solar desalination unit

• Published in: Materials letters Vol. 286; p. 128867
• Main Authors: Thakur, Amrit Kumar, Sathyamurthy, Ravishankar, Sharshir, Swellam W., Elnaby Kabeel, Abd, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Mohammad, Hwang, Jang-Yeon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-03-2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Absorber coating; Absorbers; Coating; Desalination; Freshwater yield; Graphene; Hydrothermal treatment; Materials science; Reduced graphene oxide; Thermal properties; Water yield; Thermal properties; Freshwater yield; Reduced graphene oxide; Absorber coating
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2020.128867

•RGO nanosheet was prepared with specific surface area 167.72 m2 g−1.•RGO with concentration of 4, 8 and 12 wt% were mixed in black paint.•Solar radiation absorption property of absorber increases with increasing RGO wt%.•The water yield of BSS was 3.96 L/m2/day.•12 wt% RGO doped in black-paint coated absorber show water yield of 5.59 L/m2 /day.
The absorber plate of a single basin solar still (SS) is coated by black paint doped with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheet having a mass fraction of 4–12 wt%, to augment the water yield. The RGO was prepared through hydrothermal treatment to have a specific surface area and mean pore diameter of 167.72 m2.g−1 and 22 nm, respectively. The utilization of 12 wt% RGO doped with black paint-coated absorber enhances the water and absorber temperature by 14.7 and 15.7%, respectively, as compared to only black paint-coated absorber. The accumulated water yield of the SS with (12 wt%) and without the RGO coating was found to be 5.59 and 3.96 L/m2/day, respectively.