A 3D Hemispheric Steam Generator Based on An Organic–Inorganic Composite Light Absorber for Efficient Solar Evaporation and Desalination

Abstract

Solar‐driven interfacial steam generation is emerging as a sustainable and environmental‐friendly technology for potential applications in sterilization, desalination, and wastewater treatment. Despite the impressive progress achieved at labs, only few designs specialize in ambient and outdoor applications. Herein, a 3D hemispheric steam generator composed of nanocarbon (CB):poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composite materials as a light‐absorber, which boosts the light absorption in a wide range of incident angles, is reported. Gratifyingly, the 3D hemispheric steam generator afford efficient water evaporation and high photothermal conversion efficiencies of ≈87% when employing moderate sunlight (0.75 sun) with varied incident angles (90°, 80°, and 65°) in a set of indoor measurements. The more hydrophobic surface of the light‐absorber enabled by PMMA leads to better durability and avoids significant salt accumulation for solar desalination. This work highlights the intriguing prospect of this novel 3D hemispheric design and elegant organic–inorganic composite concept to realize efficient clean water production for potential real‐world applications.

Donor–Acceptor‐Type Organic‐Small‐Molecule‐Based Solar‐Energy‐Absorbing Material for Highly Efficient Water Evaporation and Thermoelectric Power Generation

“…In this work, we calculated the heat loss in the evaporation process according to the previous report. [29,47] The conduction, radiation, and convection losses are estimated to be 8.5%, 2.3%, and 2.1%, respectively (Supporting Information). Due to its high photothermal conversion efficiency and excellent water evaporation rate, such solar distillation technology can provide potential opportunities for fresh water.…”

Conformal Microfluidic‐Blow‐Spun 3D Photothermal Catalytic Spherical Evaporator for Omnidirectional Enhanced Solar Steam Generation and CO2 Reduction

“…Whereas, the isotropic spherical evaporator developed in this work could always keep a hemispherical surface facing the sunlight despite the light incident angle, assuring the omnidirectional solar absorbance for solar evaporation all day long ( Figure 4a ). [ 40 ] The solar simulator from perpendicular to the horizontal directions were modulated to change the angle of light ( θ = 90°, 60°, 30°, and 0°, Figure 4b ; Figure S16 , Supporting Information). The results show that the average water evaporation rates are 3.17, 3.09, and 3.33 kg m −2 h −1 under solar angles of 60°, 30°, and 0° at 1 sun illumination, which are similar to that under 90° (3.6 kg m −2 h −1 ) (Figure 4c ).…”

Solar‐Driven Airflow‐Enhanced All‐Daytime Solar Steam Generation Based on Inverse‐Bowl‐Shaped Graphene Aerogels

“…Moreover, the actual solar trajectory is a semicircular arc, resulting in a continuous change of the angle between the incident light and the normal of the ground plane from 90 to 0 , [39,40] which has often been neglected in current research. The simulated illumination direction is usually perpendicular to the horizontal plane for the measurements of the evaporation rate.…”