
Assoc. Prof. Seong Kyun Kim
Department of Physics and Chemistry, DGIST, South KoreaSpeech Title: Water-efficient artificial phytoextraction technology for the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil
Abstract: Heavy metal ions are among the most critical environmental pollutants due to their persistence and toxicity to both humans and ecosystems. While adsorption has been widely adopted as an effective and practical method for removing heavy metals from aqueous systems, the remediation of contaminated soil remains a significant challenge, primarily due to the limited mobility of metal ions within soil matrices. Recently, interfacial solar vapor generation (ISVG) has emerged as a promising strategy for soil remediation. ISVG utilizes photothermal materials to localize solar energy at the water–air interface, thereby enhancing the evaporation rate and inducing a directional water flow from bulk water toward the evaporation surface. When applied to moist soils, ISVG devices facilitate rapid evaporation of pore water, effectively mimicking plant transpiration but at a much faster rate. This process enables the continuous extraction of water and dissolved contaminants from soil. By integrating contaminant-specific adsorbents into the ISVG system, accelerated artificial phytoextraction becomes feasible. In this presentation, recent advancements in ISVG-based soil remediation technologies will be discussed, with a focus on the removal of heavy metal ions and the treatment of saline soils.