Three-Dimensional Coffee-Ring Effect Induced Deposition on Foam Surface for Enhanced Photothermal Conversion

Suppression of coffee rings by controllable nanoparticle enrichment through superhydrophobicity-enabled dynamic evaporation

Coffee rings formed by evaporation of analyte-containing droplets are widely observed in micropatterning, bio-arrays, and trace detection. The coffee-ring effect caused by contact line pinning significantly affects the detection uniformity and sensitivity. Here, we propose a simple and operable method to effectively suppress coffee rings through controllable nanoparticles aggregation by superhydrophobicity-enabled dynamic evaporation. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) deposition footprint formed after dynamic evaporation on an integrated superhydrophobic surface was reduced by ∼3 orders of magnitude compared to that of non-interventional evaporation. Detailed experiments, numerical simulations, and theoretical studies have revealed that substrate wettability, temperature and droplet motion behaviors play significant roles in suppressing coffee-ring effect. More critically, based on the force mechanism of AuNPs at the interface/contact line, universal mathematical models and regime maps were established to classify the different deposition modes for AuNPs under different evaporation conditions by introducing dimensionless parameter G, revealing the enrichment mechanism of AuNPs in droplets under superhydrophobicity-enabled dynamic evaporation. The accuracy of the theoretical model and enrichment mechanism was demonstrated through the single-molecule detection of rhodamine 6G with excellent sensitivity (10-17 M, enhancement factor ∼1013) and perfect uniformity (relative standard deviation ∼5.57 %), which provides a valuable guide for research and applications of nanoparticle aggregation.

Role of motility and nutrient availability in drying patterns of algal droplets

Sessile drying droplets in various bio-related systems attracted attention due to the complex interactions between convective flows, droplet pinning, mechanical stress, wettability, and the emergence of unique patterns. This study focuses on the drying dynamics of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (chlamys), a versatile model algae used in molecular biology and biotechnology. The experimental findings shed light on how motility and nutrient availability influence morphological patterns- a fusion of macroscopic fluid dynamics and microbiology. This paper further discusses the interplay of two competing stressors during drying- nutrient scarcity (quantitative analysis) and mechanical stress (qualitative analysis), where the global mechanical stress does not induce cracks. Interestingly, motile chlamys form clusters under nutrient scarcity due to metabolic stress, indicating the onset of flocculation, a common feature observed in microbial systems. Moreover, non-motile chlamys exhibit an "anomalous coffee-ring effect" in the presence of nutrients, with an inward movement observed near the droplet edge despite sufficient water in the droplet. The quantitative image processing techniques provide fundamental insights into these behaviors in classifying the patterns into four categories (motile+with nutrients, motile+without nutrients, non-motile+with nutrients, and non-motile+without nutrients) across five distinct drying stages- Droplet Deposition, Capillary Flow, Dynamic Droplet Phase, Aggregation Phase, and Dried Morphology.

Developing Salt-Rejecting Evaporators for Solar Desalination: A Critical Review

Solar desalination, a green, low-cost, and sustainable technology, offers a promising way to get clean water from seawater without relying on electricity and complex infrastructures. However, the main challenge faced in solar desalination is salt accumulation, either on the surface of or inside the solar evaporator, which can impair solar-to-vapor efficiency and even lead to the failure of the evaporator itself. While many ideas have been tried to address this ″salt accumulation″, scientists have not had a clear system for understanding what works best for the enhancement of salt-rejecting ability. Therein, for the first time, we classified the state-of-the-art salt-rejecting designs into isolation strategy (isolating the solar evaporator from brine), dilution strategy (diluting the concentrated brine), and crystallization strategy (regulating the crystallization site into a tiny area). Through the specific equations presented, we have identified key parameters for each strategy and highlighted the corresponding improvements in the solar desalination performance. This Review provides a semiquantitative perspective on salt-rejecting designs and critical parameters for enhancing the salt-rejecting ability of dilution-based, isolation-based, and crystallization-based solar evaporators. Ultimately, this knowledge can help us create reliable solar desalination solutions to provide clean water from even the saltiest sources.

Well-designed lamellar reduced graphene oxide-based foam for high-performance solar-driven water purification

Although solar steam generation is promising for seawater desalination, it is less effective in purifying wastewater with both salt/heavy metal ions and organic contaminants. It is thus imperative to develop multifunctional integrated solar-driven water purification systems with high solar-thermal evaporation and photocatalytic degradation efficiencies. Herein, a lamellar reduced graphene oxide (L-RGO) foam with the vertical lamellar structure is fabricated by bidirectional-freezing, lyophilization, and slight chemical reduction for water purification. The unique vertical lamellar structure not only accelerates upward transport of water for facilitating water evaporation but also endows the L-RGO foam with superb high elasticity for tuning the interlayer distance and varying interactions between the oxygen-containing groups and water molecules to adjust water energy state. As a result, the L-RGO foam achieves a superb water evaporation rate of 2.40 kg m-2 h-1 along with an energy efficiency of 95.3 % under the compressive strain of 44.7 % under 1-sun irradiation. Equally importantly, the decoration of L-RGO foam with polypyrrole is capable of efficiently degrading organic pollutants while retaining high solar steam generation performances, exhibiting great potential in the comprehensive treatment of various water sources for relieving freshwater crisis.