Today’s patent – Method For Preparing Carbon Nanotube/Polyacrylic Acid Hydrogel

The said invention (US11958946B2) was invented by Lefan Li, Chengpeng Li, Jingyuan Guo, Di Wang, Chengyong Li, Wenhua Wang, Zhang HU, Sidong Li, patented by USPTO on 13-12-2021. Currently, it stands assigned to Guangdong Ocean University.

The disclosure relates to the field of solar seawater desalination technology, and more particularly to a method for preparing a carbon nanotube/polyacrylic acid hydrogel, a product and an application thereof. With social and economic development and population growth, water resource supply and demand contradiction is increasingly prominent, and water resource shortage has become a global problem. Seawater desalination is of great importance for solving the problem of water resource shortage. In recent decades, the seawater desalination has achieved great progress, and a reverse osmosis technology and a multi-stage flash evaporation technology have successfully implemented in various industries. However, these technologies limit their development due to high investment, high energy consumption, and equipment contamination corrosion problems. Solar-powered seawater desalination technology is considered a promising method in terms of environmentally friendly energy supply and efficient energy conversion efficiency.

A method for preparing a carbon nano tube/polyacrylic acid hydrogel, a product and an application thereof are provided. The method includes: oxidizing a carbon nanotube into a carboxylated carbon nanotube, thereafter performing in-situ polymerization with acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide, ammonium persulfate, triethanolamine and N, N-methylenebisacrylamide to obtain a carbon nanotube/polyacrylic acid hydrogel. The hydrogel has a uniform porous structure, facilitating a rapid transmission and supply of water. The carbon nanotubes in the hydrogel are of an array structure, achieving a full absorption of solar energy to realize a high-efficiency photothermal conversion. The gel is attached to a sponge base to obtain a solar-powered carbon nano tube/polyacrylic acid hydrogel steam generator for the photothermal conversion. The steam generator is used for solar seawater desalination, but can improve evaporation rate and evaporation efficiency. In addition, the steam generator has many advantages, such as energy conservation, environmental protection, simplicity and practicability.