Nanotechnology Applications for Solar Energy Systems

16 Revival of Functional Nanofluid Photothermal Materials for Solar Still Applications

Muhammad Sultan Irshad¹, Naila Arshad², and Xianbao Wang^1,*

¹Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, P. R. China²Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, (XJTU), China^*Corresponding author

16.1 Nanofluid Based Solar Stills

Clean fresh water is a vital element for all kinds of lives and ecosystems and stimulates all the crucial processes including food production, power generation, manufacturing, and ecological equilibrium. Fortunately, our planet is blessed with 70% water area, but only 3% possesses freshwater of which 2/3 is tucked away by frozen glaciers. However, the problem of water scarcity is growing every day and is predicted to worsen over time if not appropriately addressed. The current scenario insinuates that 1.1 billion people around the planet lack access to fresh water, whereas 2.7 billion among all suffer water scarcity one month per year [1]. On the other hand, the consumption of unclean water has exposed individuals to inevitable fatal diseases such as typhoid fever, and cholera with water-borne illnesses. Renewable energy sources such as solar desalination and solar defluorination is a novel technology with a low cost and simple infrastructure to treat contaminated water. Solar-assisted ...