Facile fabrication of Ni(5)P(4)-NiMoO(x) nanorod arrays with synergistic thermal management for efficient interfacial solar steam generation and water purification.

Interfacial steam generation by harnessing renewable solar energy has been recognized as a sustainable solution to global freshwater crisis. A promising evaporator with key components of high spectral absorption, efficient thermal management and adequate water transport is highly desired. In the present study, an integrated design for three-in-one functionality is achieved by simply loading Ni5P4-NiMoOx (P-NMO) on a macroporous nickel foam (NF) carrier. In situ embedding broadband Ni5P4 absorber into insulating NiMoOx enables efficient photothermal conversion and heat localization. Benefiting from proper thermal management and abundant water transmission, P-NMO/NF exhibits the excellent performance for interfacial steam generation with a high evaporation rate of 1.49 kg m-2h-1 and evaporation efficiency of 93.0 % under one sun irradiation. Furthermore, the obtained P-NMO/NF is proven to be applicable for high-efficiency freshwater production in seawater desalination and wastewater purification, showing great potential for practical solar evaporator under natural environmental conditions.

Ai L ，Xu Y ，Qin S ，Luo Y ，Wei W ，Wang X ，Jiang J ... -  《-》

Sunflower-Stalk-Based Solar-Driven Evaporator with a Confined 2D Water Channel and an Enclosed Thermal-Insulating Cellular Structure for Stable and Efficient Steam Generation.

Liu F ，Xia L ，Zhang L ，Guo F ，Zhang X ，Yu Y ，Yang R ... -  《-》

Biomimetic Design of Macroporous 3D Truss Materials for Efficient Interfacial Solar Steam Generation.

Zhao HY ，Huang J ，Zhou J ，Chen LF ，Wang C ，Bai Y ，Zhou J ，Deng Y ，Dong WX ，Li YS ，Yu SH ... -  《-》

Three-dimensional hierarchical oxygen vacancy-rich WO(3)-decorated Ni foam evaporator for high-efficiency solar-driven interfacial steam generation.

Solar steam generation is considered to be an effective strategy to alleviate the global water shortage problem. Therefore, exploring highly efficient and thermal stability photothermal conversion materials is highly essential and urgent. In this work, we develop a three-dimensional (3D) oxygen vacancy-rich WO3 with ''nanorod array grown on nanosheet array" unique architecture decorated on Ni foam (denoted as WO3-x/NF) through a simple and effective hydrothermal method followed by an annealing route, which is applied as light-absorbing material. The 3D hierarchical porous unique structure of the WO3-x/NF evaporator can supply a channel steam escaping and enhance the light trapping due to the multi-scattering effect, and the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects of WO3-x also contribute to increase the light absorption in the full solar spectrum. The as-prepared WO3-x/NF evaporator reveals a high solar absorption (95%), an evaporation rate of 1.50 kg m-2 h-1 under one sun illumination, and a light-to-heat conversion efficiency of about 88%, as well as stable salt-resistance performance. The water purification results show that WO3-x/NF evaporator has a significant effect on seawater desalination without significant salt accumulation and purification of heavy metal wastewater. Furthermore, the first-principles calculations reveal that WO3 with oxygen vacancies has a narrower bandgap, which is more conducive to absorb solar energy from the whole spectrum. This work can provide a new avenue toward the design of other high photothermal conversion system.

Wang T ，Gao S ，Wang G ，Wang H ，Bai J ，Ma S ，Wang B ... -  《-》

Bio-Derived Photothermal Materials and Evaporators for Sustainable Solar Energy-Driven Water Process.

Ge Y ，Su Z ，Ivan MNAS ，Wang C ，Tsang YH ，Xu S ，Bai G ... -  《-》