Self‐Assembled Supercrystals Enhance the Photothermal Conversion for Solar Evaporation and Water Purification

Abstract

friendly, green, and low-cost technology that can be used for the generation of clean water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Plasmonic materials with high concentrations of free carriers can convert absorbed energy into heat through electron-phonon scattering, which is then dissipated into the environment through phonon-phonon relaxation. [9,10] Copper sulfide (Cu 2−x S) has a maximum photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) of 56.7% owing to its strong near-infrared (NIR) localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties. [11] Compared with Au, Ag, and Pt, Cu 2−x S with low cost and intrinsic NIR absorption [12][13][14] and high NIR PCE has become an emerging, promising, and widely used photothermal material, such as photo-thermal ablation therapy, treatment of wastewater, and solar vapor generation. Among these, solar vapor generation has been recognized as one of the most important and promising solar-energy-harvesting technologies. [15] It is reported that anilite Cu 7 S 4 (Cu 1.75 S) is the most stable structure along with the highest photo-thermal conversion efficiency among Cu 2−x S structures and is a naturally hole-doped semiconductor. [16] Nanoparticles (NPs) with different morphologies, including wires, rods, cubes, plates, and polyhedrons, exhibit different optical, mechanical, and magnetic properties. [17] Because of the complex phase diagram of Cu 2−x S nanocrystals and numerous Cu-deficient stoichiometries, NPs with different stoichiometries, crystal phases, and morphologies can be synthesized

Material Design Strategies for Recovery of Critical Resources from Water

“…This type of design could potentially be used to remove undesirable pollutants from wastewater streams, simultaneously yielding cleaner water for reuse and a purer concentrate of critical nutrients like phosphates for recovery. Other plasmonic semiconductors that have been reported to be used in ISSGs include Cu 2− x S, [ 362,363 ] Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 , [ 364,365 ] and WO 3− x . [ 366 ]…”

“…This type of design could potentially be used to remove undesirable pollutants from wastewater streams, simultaneously yielding cleaner water for reuse and a purer concentrate of critical nutrients like phosphates for recovery. Other plasmonic semiconductors that have been reported to be used in ISSGs include Cu 2−x S, [362,363] Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 , [364,365] and WO 3−x . [366] In addition to the LSPR effect, semiconductors can also generate heat through the nonradiative relaxation of electrons excited by photons with energies exceeding the material's bandgap energy.…”

Advances in special wettable materials for adsorption separation of high-viscosity crude oil/water mixtures

“…Recently, the development and utilization of solar energy to solve the problems of environmental pollution and energy crisis has become a significant issue facing the world today. Solar energy is considered as a green and sustainable energy and has been widely applied in photocatalysis, 4,100-102 solar evaporators, [103][104][105][106][107][108] solar power generation, [109][110][111] desalination, [112][113][114] etc. Herein, developing self-heating adsorption separation materials for rapid clean-up of highly viscous oil spills by using clean solar energy is particularly attracting attention.…”

“One stone two birds” or “you can't have your cake and eat it too”? Effects of device dimensions and position of the thermoelectric module on simultaneous solar-driven water evaporation and thermoelectric generation

“…In addition, some semiconductors, especially copper chalcogenide nanoparticles, are also used as PCMs based on their merits of simple preparation, low cost and adjustable absorption capacity. 51–53 Tao et al assembled a 3D CuS/poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane as a PCM and achieved a PCE of 90.4% ± 1.1% under 1 sun irradiation. 51,54 Shang et al constructed a porous CuS/polyethylene hybrid membrane, which exhibited a PCE of 63.9%.…”

“…In addition, some semiconductors, especially copper chalcogenide nanoparticles, are also used as PCMs based on their merits of simple preparation, low cost and adjustable absorption capacity. [51][52][53] 55 Wu et al prepared a cotton-CuS nanocage-agarose aerogel, which presents strong absorption over the entire UV-vis region and the WE rate reached 1.63 kg m −2 h −1 . 56 These results indicate that CuS is an effective PCM that can be used for solar-driven WE.…”