Mutual Reinforcement of Evaporation and Catalysis for Efficient Freshwater–Salt–Chemical Production

Abstract

The development of mutually reinforcing solar‐driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) and integrated functional materials/systems to achieve efficient production of freshwater and energy/matters simultaneously under extremely high solar utilization is in high demand. Herein, an integrated SDIE reaction system (reduced graphene oxide (rGO)‐palladium (Pd) catalytic evaporator, rGO‐Pd) is first reported, where SDIE and the integrated catalytic reaction are mutually reinforced. The apparent utilization of solar to thermal energy by the integrated SDIE reaction system is a combination of evaporative utilization and catalytic utilization. The reaction heat released by the rGO‐Pd catalytic evaporator enhances its anti‐salt water production performance to a record of 12.7 L m−2 h−1, surpassing the reported performance of other integrated SDIE reaction systems. In the rGO‐Pd catalytic evaporator, the synergetic effect of photothermal and rapid mass transfer significantly increases the catalytic activity (turnover frequency) of Pd catalysts up to a record 125.07 min−1, which is about 3.75 times of the condition without light. This integrated SDIE reaction system can effectively and simultaneously produce freshwater, salt, and catalyzed chemicals after evaporating water to dryness. This study paves the way for SDIE's high‐performance applications in future integrated water, energy, and environmental systems.

Foaming photothermal inks for direct-ink writing: hierarchical design and enhanced solar-powered interfacial evaporation

“…62–68 This method is gaining recognition as an effective approach for accelerating the prototyping process and for creating biomimetic 3D interfacial SGs with precisely controlled hierarchical structures. 69–75 Such precision is difficult to achieve with traditional sol–gel and foaming methods, making this technique particularly valuable. Direct-ink writing, an extrusion-based 3D printing method, is commonly employed for the sequential deposition of photothermal inks using a pressurized syringe.…”

Floatable Termination-Vacant MXene Architecture for High-Performance and Cost-Effective Photothermal Dehydrogenation

“…13−15 By employing a porous substrate to support PNs for floating on the air−liquid interface, solar absorption is improved significantly due to the direct exposure of PNs to the sun. 16 Additionally, the porous substrate exploits prominent hydrophilicity and thermal insulation for efficiently delivering reactant and hindering heat dissipation, realizing interfacial heat confinement. 17 This approach has the potential to conquer the challenges of poor photothermal utilization.…”

“…Solar-driven interfacial reactions represent an emerging strategy to augment solar absorption and minimize heat loss. − By employing a porous substrate to support PNs for floating on the air–liquid interface, solar absorption is improved significantly due to the direct exposure of PNs to the sun . Additionally, the porous substrate exploits prominent hydrophilicity and thermal insulation for efficiently delivering reactant and hindering heat dissipation, realizing interfacial heat confinement .…”