Sunlight-assisted desalination of water using carbon dot-hydrogel composite

Production of clean water from available water resources on a large scale is one of the global challenges that need to be tackled on an urgent basis to avoid water crisis in coming years.¹ Seawater is an abundant source of water supply without affecting other resources of fresh water. However, despite various initiatives, large-scale water purification through either osmosis or thermal evaporation was found to be challenging.² Thus there is a requirement of an economic and easy method for improving the efficiency of the water purification through natural sources. Nanotechnology has shown numerous applications in the field of environmental remediation which includes decontamination of water, air and soil. Among the nanoparticles, carbon has been the most flexible material used for water purification.³ Carbon in the form of charcoal has been used for water purification, as earthen vessels, for purifying and storing drinking water. The aim of the proposed study is purification of water through Carbon dots-hydrogel composite in presence of sunlight.

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2. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 4111–4118.
3. J. Mater. Chem. B, 2015, 3, 6013-6018.