Balanced water transport and evaporation by directionally wettability-gradient assembled evaporator for cascaded anti-oil and desalination
Luan C. Lin F. Mao H. Wang X. Chen Z. Bigaliev A.B. Eminov A.M. Chen G.
1 January 2026Elsevier Ltd
Water Research
2026#288
Despite solar-driven interfacial evaporation achieving remarkable progress in wastewater treatment, its application in petrochemical wastewater remains constrained, given that the coexistence of oil and salt impedes water transport and exacerbates salt accumulation. Therefore, we propose a cascade treatment strategy to eliminate the interference of oil first and subsequently prevent the hindrance from salt accumulation. A combination of delignified wood (DM) and sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel films is initially considered for oil-rejection and maintaining the mechanical integrity. Furthermore, inspired by the unidirectional conductivity of a diode, DM and CuO rods are assembled sequentially, with CuO rods placed at the channel outlet due to a 97.62% higher wetting rate than wood, enhancing the driving force for water supply and promoting salt recirculation. The evaporator achieved an evaporation rate of 2.66 kg·m−2·h−1, a 112.20% improvement over conventional wood-based systems, maintained stable evaporation (2.12 kg·m−2·h−1) in 15 wt% brine for 48 h, and retained 2.50 kg·m−2·h−1 over six cycles for emulsions. The system delivers a daily water yield of 10.62 kg·m−2·day−1 outdoors, while achieving 99.94% TOC removal for drilling wastewater. This work offers an innovative modular design concept for the solar driven cascade treatment of petrochemical wastewater.
Assembly , CuO , Interfacial evaporation , Petrochemical wastewater , Wettability-gradient
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School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University/Tianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes Utilization, Tianjin, 300072, China
Institute of Ecological and Biological Resource Sustainability, National University of Kazakhstan, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Tashkent Institute of Chemical Technology, Yangiyer Branch, Yangiyer, 123456, Uzbekistan
School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin, 300134, China
School of Environmental Science and Engineering
Institute of Ecological and Biological Resource Sustainability
Tashkent Institute of Chemical Technology
School of Mechanical Engineering
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