Solar vapor generation has attracted
tremendous attention as one
of the most efficient ways of utilizing solar energy. It is highly
desirable to develop low-cost, eco-friendly, and high-efficiency solar
absorbers for practical applications of solar vapor generation. Herein,
a three-dimensional plasmonic covellite CuS hierarchical nanostructure
has been synthesized as the light-absorbing material via a facile
one-pot hydrothermal method for structurally integrated solar absorbers
with microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane (PVDFM) as the
supporting material. A broadband and highly efficient light absorption
has been achieved in the wavelength of 300–2500 nm, along with
high water evaporation efficiencies of 90.4 ± 1.1 and 93.3 ±
2.0% under 1 and 4 sun irradiation, respectively. Meanwhile, stable
performance has been demonstrated for over 20 consecutive runs without
much performance degradation. To the best of our knowledge, this is
the highest performance among the copper sulfide-based solar absorbers.
With the additional features of low-cost and convenient fabrication,
this plasmonic solar absorber exhibits a tremendous potential for
practical solar vapor generation.
A novel plasmonic interfacial evaporator composed of Cu9S5 nanonets and PVDFM has shown high efficiencies of 80.2 ± 0.6% and 91.5 ± 1.1% under 1 and 4 sun irradiation, respectively, for solar vapor generation.
It is well recognized that combining nonpotable water with solar energy to desalinate water and produce water vapor is an effective route to solve the shortage of fresh water. However, the solar vapor generation suffers from either low solar energy efficiency or complex and high-cost devices. Herein, we explore a black membrane based on polypyrrole (PPy) and filter paper to enhance solar-to-vapor conversion performance, thus providing a low-cost, stable, and strong efficient solar vapor generator. This device displays high solarto-vapor conversion efficiencies of up to approximately 92.2% and 95.6% under irradiation of 1 and 4 kW m −2 , respectively. Therefore, this paper-based high solar-to-vapor conversion and scalable evaporator provides a promising solution to the problem of freshwater scarcity and nonrenewable recourses.
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