Nanostructured Black Aluminum Prepared by Laser Direct Writing as a High-Performance Plasmonic Absorber for Photothermal/Electric Conversion

Abstract

Utilizing the abundant and renewable solar energy to address the global energy shortage and water scarcity is promising. Great effort has been devoted to photothermal conversion for its typically full-spectrum utilization and high efficiency. Here, the coral-like micro/nanostructure was fabricated on an aluminum sheet by a facile laser direct writing technology. The nanocluster and microscale branches of corals endowed this black aluminum with broad-band plasmonic absorption and rapid heat transfer from the light absorption region to substrate. The black aluminum achieved ultrahigh solar absorbance of over 92.6% (>95.1% in the visible range) and excellent light heating ability (>90.6 °C under 1.0 sun). With good photothermal properties, this plasmonic absorber was used in a state-of-the-art eight-layer membrane distillation system, producing a water yield of up to 2.40 kg m −2 h −1 and a high solar conversion efficiency of 166.5% under 1-sun irradiation. Photothermal electricity was also achieved based on this system with a thermoelectric generator, with a water yield of 0.89 kg m −2 h −1 and a maximum electrical power output of 7.21 μW cm −2 under 1.0 sun. Considering the excellent performance of the plasmon-enhanced black aluminum, this work provides an alternative and feasible route toward high-efficient utilization of the solar energy.

State‐of‐the‐Art Advances, Development, and Challenges of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Nanomaterials for Photothermal Solar Steam Generation

“…Typical evaporation rate of SSG from carbonaceous materials, plasmonic metals, polymeric materials, and semiconductors. [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] On the other hand, photothermal polymeric materials feature advances in providing robust hybrid structures of combining two or more types of photothermal agents. [80][81][82][83] Polypyrrole (PPy), [84][85][86] polyaniline (PAn), [33,34,87] polythiophene (PT), [83] and their derivatives are some of the common polymers investigated for photothermal purpose.…”

“…Figure3. Typical evaporation rate of SSG from carbonaceous materials, plasmonic metals, polymeric materials, and semiconductors [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. …”

Femtosecond laser‐produced optical absorbers for solar‐thermal energy harvesting

“…106 Recently, fs laser-produced wicking solar absorbers are used for solar-thermal water purification/desalination. 18,91,107 Singh et al used fs laser-processed superwicking solar absorber to build a high throughput solar water purification system that can track the sun during its operation to optimize solar irradiance on its surface (Figure 16A,B). 18 The developed solar absorber efficiently absorbs solar energy, transports water at any orientation, and changes intermolecular interaction among water molecules.…”

“…Fs laser‐processed superwicking solar absorber (Figure 11B) is capable of transporting water at its surface at any orientation, therefore it can track the sun to optimize the solar flux 106 . Recently, fs laser‐produced wicking solar absorbers are used for solar‐thermal water purification/desalination 18,91,107 . Singh et al used fs laser‐processed superwicking solar absorber to build a high throughput solar water purification system that can track the sun during its operation to optimize solar irradiance on its surface (Figure 16A,B).…”

Spreading and Drying Dynamics of Water Drop on Hot Surface of Superwicking Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Material Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser

“…Recent trends in cooling data centers [1,2], heat dissipation in high-heat flux electronics [3], cooling supercomputers [4], spacecraft thermal management [5][6][7], water desalination [8][9][10], waste heat recovery [11][12][13][14], cooling batteries [15], energy-harvesting [16][17][18][19], aircraft anti-icing [20], and Maisotsenko cycle (M-cycle) technologies [21][22][23][24][25] necessitate the creation of advanced capillary materials with efficient wicking/super-hydrophilic functionality at elevated temperatures. In particular, there is a fast-growing demand for these materials in cooling high-heat flux 5G electronics and in creating the next generation of M-cycle air-conditioning systems that will consume less electric power than the traditional compressor coolers by a factor of 5-8 [21,[26][27][28][29].…”