Application of Nanomaterials in Water Desalination to Enhance Solar Still Productivity

Much care is being given for the issue of sustainable development in the last few years. Among these efforts, researchers are giving much interest to saving water resources, energy conservation and protecting the environment from pollution resulting from the use of fossil fuel. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle integration in solar water desalination systems is a novel way to increase freshwater output using solar energy. Compared to traditional solar stills, this technique shows a notable increase in productivity and efficiency. The application of utilizing ZnO nanoparticles in solar water desalination has been investigated in this study. The prepared materials have been characterized using SEM technique. Different operating parameters have been examine such as, The parameters of ambient temperature, basin temperature, glass temperature and solar intensity. the results of applying ZnO nano particles have been compared to that of utilization of Ti2O and Ti2O nano particles in solar water desalination.. A total productivity amounting to 1645ml, 1560ml and 1115ml was obtained per day from stills having nano-ZnO, nano-TiO2 or TiO2 particles (0.6 g/l), respectively. The still efficiency is calculated to be 34.93%, 48.87% and 51.53% when TiO2, TiO2 NPs and ZnO NPs are used, respectively. Thus, ZnO showed the best productivity, followed by TiO2 and finally by TiO2 particles.