{"id":{"repo_id":"rice","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/96158"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/rice/oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/96158","repository":{"repo_id":"rice","name":"Rice University","base_url":"https://repository.rice.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation for Off-grid Water Purification","abstract":"With more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert non-potable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower-energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community- scale desalination.","abstract_html":"With more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert non-potable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower-energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community- scale desalination.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dongare, Pratiksha D."],"institution":"Rice University","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Natural Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Halas, Naomi J"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-04-21","date_published":"2017-04-21","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:10:34Z","subjects":["Desalination","Carbon black","Solar","Nanophotonics","Phothermal"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96158","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Halas, Naomi J"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dongare, Pratiksha D."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2017-08-02T14:50:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-05-01T05:01:08Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2017-04-21"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Natural Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Rice University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Desalination","Carbon black","Solar","Nanophotonics","Phothermal"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. 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Here we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community- scale desalination."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation for Off-grid Water Purification"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Halas, Naomi J"],"dc:creator":["Dongare, Pratiksha D."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2017-08-02T14:50:56Z"],"dc:date.available":["2018-05-01T05:01:08Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2017-04-21"],"dc:description.abstract":["With more than a billion people lacking accessible drinking water, there is a critical need to convert non-potable sources such as seawater to water suitable for human use. However, energy requirements of desalination plants account for half their operating costs, so alternative, lower-energy approaches are equally critical. Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential due to its low operating temperature and pressure requirements, but the requirement of heating the input water makes it energy intensive. Here we demonstrate nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation (NESMD), where highly localized photothermal heating induced by solar illumination alone drives the distillation process, entirely eliminating the requirement of heating the input water. Unlike MD, NESMD can be scaled to larger systems and shows increased efficiencies with decreased input flow velocities. Along with its increased efficiency at higher ambient temperatures, these properties all point to NESMD as a promising solution for household- or community- scale desalination."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96158"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder."],"dc:subject":["Desalination","Carbon black","Solar","Nanophotonics","Phothermal"],"dc:title":["Nanophotonics-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation for Off-grid Water Purification"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Natural Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Rice University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:10:34Z"}