Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation for Off-grid Water Purification

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dc.contributor.advisorHalas, Naomi Jen_US
dc.creatorDongare, Pratiksha D.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-02T14:50:56Zen_US
dc.date.available2018-05-01T05:01:08Zen_US
dc.date.created2017-05en_US
dc.date.issued2017-04-21en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2017en_US
dc.date.updated2017-08-02T14:50:56Zen_US
dc.description.abstractWith more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert non-potable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower-energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community- scale desalination.en_US
dc.embargo.terms2018-05-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationDongare, Pratiksha D.. "Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation for Off-grid Water Purification." (2017) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96158">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96158</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/96158en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectDesalinationen_US
dc.subjectCarbon blacken_US
dc.subjectSolaren_US
dc.subjectNanophotonicsen_US
dc.subjectPhothermalen_US
dc.titleNanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation for Off-grid Water Purificationen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentApplied Physicsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.majorApplied Physics - Plasmonics and Nanophotonicsen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen_US
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