Photothermal Membrane Distillation for Seawater Desalination

The application capabilities of localized surface plasmon modes in noble-metal nanoparticles (NPs) have originated the emerging field of plasmonics. Among the various technological potentialities of plasmonics, the most promising applications are related to thermoplasmonics, i.e., the Joule heating associated with optically resonant plasmonic excitations in metal NPs, based on the activation of nanoscale thermal hotspots by means of light sources. In particular, recently thermoplasmonic effects have been exploited in the fields of solar steam generation and desalination. Here, the preparation of advanced nanostructured membranes by inclusion of metallic NPs in polymeric matrixes is the basis of an innovative plasmonic photothermal membrane distillation (MD) device, able to produce desalted water at high thermal efficiency and relatively low energy input.