Biomass-Printed Hybrid Solar Evaporator Derived from Bio-polluted Invasive Species, a Potential Step toward Carbon Neutrality

Abstract

Biomass-based photothermal conversion is of great importance for solar energy utilization toward carbon neutrality. Herein, a hybrid solar evaporator is innovatively designed via UV-induced printing of pyrolyzed Kudzu biochar on hydrophilic cotton fabric (KB@CF) to integrate all parameters in a single evaporator, such as solar evaporation, salt collection, waste heat recovery for thermoelectricity, sieving oil emulsions, and water disinfection from microorganisms. The UV-induced printed fabric demonstrates stronger material adhesion as compared to the conventional dip-dry technique. The hybrid solar evaporator gives an enhanced evaporation rate (2.32 kg/m2 h), and the complementary waste heat recovery system generates maximum open-circuit voltage (V out ∼ 143.9 mV) and solar to vapor conversion efficiency (92%), excluding heat losses under one sun illumination. More importantly, 99.98% of photothermal-induced bacterial killing efficiency was achieved within 20 min under 1 kW m–2 using the hyperthermia effect of Kudzu biochar. Furthermore, numerical heat-transfer simulations were performed successfully to analyze the enhanced interfacial heat accumulation (75.3 °C) and heat flux distribution of the thermoelectric generators under one sun. We firmly believe that the safe use of bio-polluted invasive species in hybrid solar-driven evaporation systems eases the environmental pressure toward carbon neutrality.

Recent Advances in Multifunctional Photothermal Materials for Solar‐Driven Steam and Energy Generation

“…The integrated steam generator successfully achieves a high evaporation rate (2.32 kg m À2 h À1 ) and simultaneously achieves an opencircuit voltage of V out = 143.9 mV by recovering waste heat under 1 kW m À2 irradiation. [158] In the same context, Irshad et al reported the fabrication of the Fe 3 O 4 @PPy-based highly charged hybrid solar evaporating device for simultaneous freshwater energy generation while rejecting the volatile-charged impurities at air-water interface by Donnan exclusion via optimization of charge density (Figure 10e). The integrated device successfully produces %14.66 kg m À2 of drinking water along with %45.4 W m À2 of energy generation and electric conversion efficiency (γ = 2.27%).…”

“…on both the inner and outer evaporation surfaces, thereby significantly promoting solar evaporation. [155][156][157][158] Compared to the confined hollow evaporator, the new open hollow evaporator could produce a much higher evaporation rate while consuming less material. By introducing a convective flow, cold evaporation took place on all surfaces of the solar evaporator, resulting in a significantly enhanced energy harvest for the solar evaporation system.…”

Advances of 2D‐Enabled Photothermal Materials in Hybrid Solar‐Driven Interfacial Evaporation Systems toward Water‐Fuel‐Energy Crisis

“…Nonetheless, these hybrid solar evaporators must be scalable, cost-effective, and have longterm stability to be suitable for real-world applications. [51,52] Ultimately, the in-depth discussion will provide researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to emphasize the concept and design of interdisciplinary hybrid solar water evaporators, their expanded applicability, and synergistic effects of complimentary applications. [47,53] The unparalleled characteristics of emerging 2D materials benefit the creation of new functional building blocks that can be exploited in a variety of fields, i.e., cancer therapy, [54] optoelectronic devices, [32,55] and drug delivery.…”

Multi-Walled CNTs/BiVO4 Heterostructures for Solar-Driven Evaporation System and Efficient Photocatalytic Activity against Oxytetracycline

“…Solardriven water evaporation, which harnesses sunlight as a sustainable energy source, presents a viable strategy for addressing the issue of water scarcity while minimizing adverse environmental effects [8][9][10]. Nonetheless, the practical implementation of solar steam generation is hindered by the limited photothermal conversion efficiency, which is primarily attributed to the inadequate solar absorption of water and the heat losses associated with traditional bulk water heating methods [11,12]. A multifunctional photothermal material can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of solar evaporation by incorporating a multifunctional photothermal material.…”