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Modified pine cone with MnO2 nanoparticles as a photoabsorber for highly efficient seawater desalination and wastewater treatment

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Abstract

Production of drinking water using interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) is an efficient and sustainable technology that addresses environmental impacts and high costs associated with industrial desalination methods. In this work, a photoabsorber was fabricated for ISSG of seawater and wastewater treatment using manganese dioxide nanoparticles (MnO2 NPs) deposited on a pine cone (PC), which was named as K-PC. K-PC transports seawater or wastewater through numerous aligned microchannels to its hot surface, where the MnO2 NPs absorb a broad range of the solar spectrum in the ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelength region and convert it to heat. Under 1 sun (1 kW m–2), K-PC achieved an evaporation flux of 1.61 kg m−2 h−1 and 100% conversion efficiency. Additionally, K-PC reduced the concentration of Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ ions in seawater and paper industry wastewater. K-PC demonstrated superior stability for ISSG during 10 evaporation–condensation cycles.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ISSG:

Interfacial solar steam generation

NPs:

Nanoparticles

NMs:

Nanomaterials

PC:

Pine cone

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

UV–Vis–NIR:

Ultraviolet–visible–near infrared

FTIR:

Fourier transform infrared

WCA:

Water contact angle

EDS:

Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

ICP–MS:

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

WHO:

World Health Organization

EPA:

Environmental protection agency

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Acknowledgements

The support of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Grant No. 1/57962), Iran, for this work is appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University College of Science, University of Tehran, 14155, Tehran, Iran

    Masoomeh Shafaee

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 9177948974, Mashhad, Iran

    Zohreh Niazi, Moeid Asarnia, Elaheh K. Goharshadi & Reyhaneh Dehghani

  3. Nano Research Centre, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Elaheh K. Goharshadi

  4. Center for Nanotechnology in Renewable Energies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 9177948974, Mashhad, Iran

    Elaheh K. Goharshadi

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  1. Masoomeh Shafaee
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Contributions

MS contributed to methodology, validation, formal analysis, visualization, references, and writing—original draft. ZN contributed to methodology, validation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, and visualization. MA performed formal analysis. Elaheh Goharshadi contributed to conceptualization, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, data curation, and writing—reviewing and editing. RD helped in methodology, validation, and formal analysis.

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Correspondence to Elaheh K. Goharshadi.

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Shafaee, M., Niazi, Z., Asarnia, M. et al. Modified pine cone with MnO2 nanoparticles as a photoabsorber for highly efficient seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. Appl. Phys. A 129, 656 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-06938-x

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