MIT Combines Carbon Foam and Graphite Flakes For Efficient Solar Steam Generati

rtoz (2530056) writes Researchers at MIT have developed a new spongelike material structure which can use 85% of incoming solar energy for converting water into steam. This spongelike structure has a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam. This structure has many small pores. It can float on the water, and it will act as an insulator for preventing heat from escaping to the underlying liquid. As sunlight hits the structure, it creates a hotspot in the graphite layer, generating a pressure gradient that draws water up through the carbon foam. As water seeps into the graphite layer, the heat concentrated in the graphite turns the water into steam. This structure works much like a sponge. It is a significant improvement over recent approaches to solar-powered steam generation. And, this setup loses very little heat in the process, and can produce steam at relatively low solar intensity. If scaled up, this setup will not require complex, costly systems to highly concentrate sunlight.

Comments

Sponge-like?

[ArcadeMan]

SpongeBob Square Solarpanel?

Re:The next generation of MIT?

[ArcadeMan]

It's MIT Prime, a.k.a. MIT: The Next Generation.

Re:De-salination?

[ArcadeMan]

Faster CPUs, better solar panels, radiation shielding and drinkable water for all the world.

Graphite. Is there anything it can't do?

We're lucky!

[Charliemopps]

Made of carbon? Damn! We're lucky we've been producing all this carbon with our cars or we'd never have a chance to solve this climate change problem!

Re:De-salination?

[dotancohen]

Faster CPUs, better solar panels, radiation shielding and drinkable water for all the world.

Graphite. Is there anything it can't do?

Frankly, silicone still has a purpose that graphite doesn't fulfil.