The current challenge in solar thermal
utilization is how to effectively
convert full-spectrum sunlight into directly available thermal energy
for applications at high conversion efficiency. Herein, we report
a novel strategy for the construction of large-area porous CuS/polyethylene
(PE) hybrid membrane as a superior interfacial plasmonic photothermal
material for high-efficiency solar thermal conversion to produce steam
generation off seawater. The single-layer CuS/PE membrane materials
have effective full-spectra sunlight absorption, excellent solar-to-heat
conversion ability, low thermal conductivity, good hydrophilicity,
and open micro/nanoscopic porosity for capillarity and self-floating,
etc. Impressively, a single piece of porous CuS/PE membrane under
one sun illumination can exhibit a superior conversion efficiency
of 63.9% from sunlight to heat of seawater evaporation. Meanwhile,
the plasmonic photothermal CuS/PE membrane can be recycled at least
20 times. Therefore, with the demonstrated convenient fabrication
process, low cost, and high evaporation efficiency, the single-layer
porous CuS/PE membrane materials offer great promise to convert sunlight
into thermal energy for practical applications of steam generation.
The key challenges in thermoelectric power conversion are creating a significant temperature difference and obtaining more heat energy through a thermoelectric device. Herein, graphene/polyethyleneglycol composites (G-PEGs) were proposed as a heat supply for thermoelectric devices. The G-PEGs not only afford a lot of conductive pathways for heat transfer but also act as highly thermally conductive reservoirs to hold phase-change materials for thermal energy collection, storage and release. The concept described in this study holds great promise in designing multifunctional composites for heat collection, transport, and supply in thermoelectric power conversion.
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