Dual-Functional Solar-to-Steam Generation and SERS Detection Substrate Based on Plasmonic Nanostructure

Abstract

Solar-to-steam (STS) generation based on plasmonic materials has attracted significant attention as a green method for producing fresh water. Herein, a simple in situ method is introduced to fabricate Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) on cellulose filter papers as dual-functional substrates for STS generation and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing. The substrates exhibit 90% of broadband solar absorption between 350 and 1800 nm and achieve an evaporation rate of 0.96 kg·m−2·h−1 under 1-sun illumination, room temperature of 20 °C, and relative humidity of 40%. The STS generation of the substrate is stable during 30 h continuous operation. Enriched SERS hotspots between AuNPs endow the substrates with the ability to detect chemical contamination in water with ppb limits of detection for rhodamine 6G dye and melamine. To demonstrate dual-functional properties, the contaminated water was analyzed with SERS and purified by STS. The purified water was then analyzed with SERS to confirm its purity. The developed substrate can be an improved and suitable candidate for fresh water production and qualification.

Data on a two-dimensional Pd-cellulose with optimized morphology for the effective solar to steam generation

“…The thermal reduction of the PdCl 2 was realized in the ambient atmosphere under 80 °C for 6 hrs. Plasma-assisted synthesis was carried out using atmospheric plasma apparatus (Atmos, South Korea) with Ar feed gas [3] . The plasma power was set to 100-200W, the glass flow rate was 5 L/m, and the substrate moving speed was 5 mm/s.…”

Gyroid‐Structured Au Materials with 3D Interconnected Networks for Highly Efficient Heat Localization and Solar Vapor Generation

“…However, free‐standing Au nanospheres still suffer from a relatively low efficiency: 47.8% at 4.5 kW m −2 solar irradiations. [ 39 ] Considering the inherent narrow absorption spectra of metal NPs, some research work was focused on constructing plasmonic micro‐/nanostructures to expand the light absorption band and increase photothermal conversion efficiency, [ 40,41 ] such as Au NPs‐deposited plasmonic membrane, [ 42 ] anodic aluminium oxide membranes assembled with Au NPs, [ 32 ] Au NPs on cellulose filter papers, [ 43 ] Au/Ag NPs plasmonic cellulose nanofiber membrane, [ 44 ] Pd‐NPs on the cellulose filter paper, [ 45 ] plasmonic Cu 7 S 4 ‐MoS 2 ‐Au NPs in polydimethylsiloxane matrix, [ 46 ] Au@Ag‐Pd/polystyrene Janus nano‐microstructures, [ 47 ] Au‐H 2 Ti 2 O 5 nanowires on Ti foam, [ 48 ] and gold nanoflowers plasmonic‐based solar absorber gel. [ 49 ] One can conclude that the 3D structure of metal NPs assembly greatly affects the conversion efficiency.…”