Rationally Programmable Paper‐Based Artificial Trees Toward Multipath Solar‐Driven Water Extraction from Liquid/Solid Substrates

Abstract

Solar vaporization, which is emerged as a promising candidate for harvesting solar energy in sewage purification and/or seawater desalination, has attracted increasing interests during the last few years. Although tremendous advances are made, it is still challenging to realize simple fabrication protocols, low‐cost, and rationally editable 3D structures toward multipath water extraction from liquid/solid media. Inspired by natural plants with hierarchical structures rooted in soils, herein, an artificial tree of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) film/paper hybrid with tunable transpiration toward multipath water extraction under solar illumination is rationally designed. In this system, an interfacial‐assisted transfer strategy is developed to alternatively transfer the self‐assembled CNT films at the air/water interface onto one side of arbitrary substrates in a uniform/patterned way. The paper‐based photothermal absorbers with favorable tailorability and foldability allow the transformation of the 2D evaporators to tree‐like 3D ones. The achieved 3D evaporators with specific structures can extract purified water ranging from conventional liquid phase (e.g., water) to solid phase (e.g., sand), which can significantly extend the application of water extraction.

Interfacial Solar Evaporation by a 3D Graphene Oxide Stalk for Highly Concentrated Brine Treatment

“…This enables the 3D evaporator to achieve evaporation area index (EAI) values (ratio of the total area available for evaporation relative to the projected ground area) that are greater than 1. Figure A summarizes some 3D geometries that have been reported in the literature, including hierarchical structures that contain microscopic 3D features to increase the EAI to around 1.2, , curved and folded 2D sheets that lead to an increased EAI of around 1.5, − 2D sheets that were intentionally converted into 3D geometries to obtain an EAI up to 3 by means of cutting and pasting, − and more recently bio-inspired − and other 3D evaporator − structures that generally result in EAI values of 5 and higher. The evaporative water fluxes of these 3D evaporators were higher than those of most of the 2D counterparts, but they have remained less than 5 kg m –2 h –1 , with only a few 3D evaporators achieving the higher EAI values , that are needed to make this approach attractive in practice.…”

Artificial Trees Inspired by Monstera for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation in Both Normal and Weak Light Environments

“…[ 29,30 ] In addition, 3D evaporators deliver better SSG performances than those of 2D evaporators because of their larger evaporation area and better thermal management and insulation abilities. [ 31–34 ]…”

“…[29,30] In addition, 3D evaporators deliver better SSG performances than those of 2D evaporators because of their larger evaporation area and better thermal management and insulation abilities. [31][32][33][34] Different evaporators with high evaporation rates and efficiencies under 1 sun illumination have been reported. One method of achieving high evaporation rate and efficiency is material and microstructure design.…”

Programmable Interface Asymmetric Integration of Carbon Nanotubes and Gold Nanoparticles toward Flexible, Configurable, and Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering Active All‐In‐One Solar‐Driven Evaporators

“…Furthermore, the bottom parts of the 3D structure with lower temperature can gain energy from the environment. As a result, the 3D structure demonstrates a higher evaporation rate than that of the 2D one …”