The three-dimensional (3D) structural design of solar evaporators has been considered as one of the most promising approaches toward enhancing photothermal performance by improving light absorption and the available evaporation area. Herein, polypyrroledecorated 3D array structural sunflower discs (PPy-SFD) were prepared for solar steam generation, thereby turning SFD biomass waste into valuable materials. The SFD can absorb a majority of the incident light because of numerous light reflections from each natural 3D array structural unit, and therefore behaves similar to a blackbody. Moreover, a facile pyrrole polymerization method was introduced to further improve SFD light absorption and enhance the photothermal performance of SFD. This circumvents expensive consumption fabrication processes. The black PPy-decorated SFD shows a light absorption of 99.3% across the entire solar spectrum coupled with mechanical stability. During photothermal evaporation, the increased evaporation area of the 3D array structural SFD could effectively reduce heat loss to the environment because the inherent microporous structure of the SFD leaves and cellulose hydrophilicity provide channels for water transport. The PPy-SFD-based evaporator could reach an evaporation rate of 1.74 kg m −2 h −1 under 1 sun. Thus, the 3D array structural PPy-SFD is a possible candidate for high-efficiency photothermal evaporators.

A new self-desalting evaporation system comprising reduced graphene oxide/cotton fabric and a vertically oriented porous polyacrylonitrile film exhibited excellent self-desalting performance and high photothermal performance.

Carbon fiber is a good candidate in various applications, including in the military, structural, sports equipment, energy storage, and infrastructure. Coloring of carbon fiber has been a big challenge for decades due to their high degrees of crystallization and insufficient chemical affinity to dyes. Here, multicolored carbon fiber fabrics are fabricated using a feasible and effective atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The vibrant and uniform structural colors originating from thin-film interference is simply regulated by controlling the thickness of conformal TiO coatings on the surface of black carbon fibers. Impressively, the colorful coatings show excellent laundering durability, which can endure 50 cycles of domestic launderings. Moreover, the mechanical properties only drop off slightly after coloring. Overall, these results open an alternative avenue for development of TiO nanostructured films with multifunctional features grown using ALD technologies. This technology is speculated to have potential applications in various fields such as color engineering and radiation-proof fabrics and will further guide material design for future innovations in functional optical and color-display devices. More importantly, this research demonstrates a route for the coloring of black carbon fiber-based materials with vibrant colors.

In this study, silk fiber was successfully modified via the application of a nanoscale titania coating using atomic layer deposition (ALD), with titanium tetraisopropoxide (TIP) and water as precursors at 100 °C. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, and field emission scanning electron microscope results demonstrated that uniform and conformal titania coatings were deposited onto the silk fiber. The thermal and mechanical properties of the TiO2 silk fiber were then investigated. The results showed that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of this material were superior to those of the uncoated substance. Furthermore, the titania ALD process provided the silk fiber with excellent protection against UV radiation. Specifically, the TiO2-coated silk fibers exhibited significant increases in UV absorbance, considerably less yellowing, and greatly enhanced mechanical properties compared with the uncoated silk fiber after UV exposure.

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A portable, flexible, and durable reduced graphene oxide–silk fabric (RGO–silk-fabric) is developed for solar steam generation with remarkably high photothermal performances and a stable water output of 1.48 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun irradiation.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is one of the most promising technologies to obtain freshwater from solar energy. Many promising approaches have been proposed for solar steam generation. However, some problems (the...

In this study, two novel composite membranes containing nanoscale ZIF-8 and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) nonwoven fabric were prepared via hydrothermal (PPS-ZIF-8) and biomimetic mineralization (PPS-ZIF-8-BSA; BSA, bovine serum albumin) approaches. The biomimetic mineralization approach in particular was extremely rapid and mild, and crystalline ZIF-8 was coated on the PPS substrate in only a few seconds at room temperature. The maximum iodine adsorption capacities of the PPS-ZIF-8 and PPS-ZIF-8-BSA membranes were 2.51 and 2.07 g/g, respectively. The composite fibrous membranes were able to capture trace iodine vapor under differential pressures ranging from 0 to 1000 Pa without almost any iodine vapor leakage. The composite membranes can be applied in harsh environments because of the excellent stability of ZIF-8 and the PPS high-performance fibers. This study provides a promising strategy to fabricate novel adsorption materials for the collection of radioactive iodine during nuclear waste disposal.