The banana industry in Thailand holds immense potential, driven by favorable growing conditions, robust domestic consumption, and active participation in the export market. Solar dryers have the potential to revolutionize fruit processing by providing a sustainable, cost-effective, and nutritionally rich solution. This research aims to optimize the greenhouse solar drying process for bananas using response surface methodology. The specific variables under investigation are drying temperature and drying time. A designed greenhouse solar dryer, tailored for commercial use in the target area, was employed for the experiment. Statistical analysis and response surface methodology were utilized to evaluate the effects of the experimental variables on two key outputs: moisture content and color change of the dried banana product. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the potential of solar drying in the context of banana processing. The research outcomes provide valuable insights for optimizing the solar drying process, thereby facilitating the development of the banana industry and its applicability.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109370 | DOI Listing |
Nanoscale
January 2025
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei Provincial Engineering Research Center of Industrial Fiber Preparation and Application, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430200, Hubei, China.
In recent years, solar-driven photothermal water evaporation technology for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment has developed rapidly, which is of great significance for addressing the issue of freshwater scarcity. However, due to the high costs associated with the manufacturing, maintenance, and operation of such devices, their application remains challenging in remote and resource-scarce regions. Due to its excellent light absorption capability in the near-infrared region, high hydrophilicity, and stable chemical properties, coupled with the low cost of recycling waste carbonized polyphenylene sulfide, this material is an excellent choice as a photothermal material for solar-driven water evaporation devices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
Institute for Advanced Materials & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Laboratory-scale spin-coating techniques are widely employed for fabricating small-size, high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. However, achieving large-area, high-uniformity perovskite films and thus high-efficiency solar cell devices remain challenging due to the complex fluid dynamics and drying behaviors of perovskite precursor solutions during large-area fabrication processes. In this work, a high-quality, pinhole-free, large-area FAPbI perovskite film is successfully obtained via scalable blade-coating technology, assisted by a novel bidirectional Marangoni convection strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Hydrogels are popular materials for desalination and can significantly reduce the vaporization enthalpy of water; however, there are few reports on hydrogels with a controllable multilevel structural design for water evaporation. Herein, a calcium alginate and traditional Chinese ink-based evaporator (CIE) are proposed and fabricated using directed freezing technology to construct radial channels, followed by freeze-drying and physical cross-linking. Because of the squeezing of ice crystals and the shaping effect of the PDMS template, the prepared evaporator exhibits a sea-urchin-shaped highly geometrical centrosymmetric structure with numerous multilevel pore channels, which promotes the rapid transport of water under different solar incidence angles as the sun rotates as well as overcomes the structural shrinkage of the hydrogel caused by insufficient water supply.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Food Sci
January 2025
College of Agriculture, Food, Climate Science, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia.
Mangoes (Mangifera indica L.) are valued for their rich nutrients, including vitamins A, B, C, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. However, high moisture content and seasonal availability contribute to post-harvest losses of up to 50%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall
January 2025
School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-Ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.
Passive temperature controls like passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC)-heating (PDRH), and thermal insulation are essential to meet the growing demand for energy-efficient thermal solutions. When combined with advanced functions like electromagnetic interference shielding, these technologies can significantly enhance scalability. However, existing approaches using single thin films or uniform porous materials face inherent limitations in optimizing versatile functions, while lightweight, insulating aerogels can extend their multifunctionality by manipulating pores and fillers.
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