Efficient solar-thermal energy conversion is essential for the harvesting and transformation of abundant solar energy, leading to the exploration and design of efficient solar-thermal materials. Carbon-based materials, especially graphene, have the advantages of broadband absorption and excellent photothermal properties, and hold promise for solar-thermal energy conversion. However, to date, graphene-based solar-thermal materials with superior omnidirectional light harvesting performances remain elusive. Herein, hierarchical graphene foam (h-G foam) with continuous porosity grown via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported, showing dramatic enhancement of broadband and omnidirectional absorption of sunlight, which thereby can enable a considerable elevation of temperature. Used as a heating material, the external solar-thermal energy conversion efficiency of the h-G foam impressively reaches up to ≈93.4%, and the solar-vapor conversion efficiency exceeds 90% for seawater desalination with high endurance.
The rapid development of additive manufacturing techniques, also known as three‐dimensional (3D) printing, is driving innovations in polymer chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Among current 3D printing techniques, direct ink writing (DIW) employs viscoelastic materials as inks, which are capable of constructing sophisticated 3D architectures at ambient conditions. In this perspective, polymer designs that meet the rheological requirements for direct ink writing are outlined and successful examples are summarized, which include the development of polymer micelles, co‐assembled hydrogels, supramolecularly cross‐linked systems, polymer liquids with microcrystalline domains, and hydrogels with dynamic covalent cross‐links. Furthermore, advanced polymer designs that reinforce the mechanical properties of these 3D printing materials, as well as the integration of functional moieties to these materials are discussed to inspire new polymer designs for direct ink writing and broadly 3D printing.
Covalent organic
frameworks (COFs) are crystalline polymers with
permanent porosity. They are usually synthesized as micrometer-sized
powders or two-dimensional thin films and membranes for applications
in molecular storage, separation, and catalysis. In this work, we
report a general method to integrate COFs with imine or β-ketoenamine
linkages into three-dimensional (3D)-printing materials. A 3D-printing
template, Pluronic F127, was introduced to coassemble with imine polymers
in an aqueous environment. By limitation of the degree of imine polycondensation
during COF formation, the amorphous imine polymer and F127 form coassembled
3D-printable hydrogels with suitable shear thinning and rapid self-healing
properties. After the removal of F127 followed by an amorphous-to-crystalline
transformation, three β-ketoenamine- and imine-based COFs were
fabricated into 3D monoliths possessing high crystallinity, hierarchical
pores with high surface areas, good structural integrity, and robust
mechanical stability. Moreover, when multiple COF precursor inks were
employed for 3D printing, heterogeneous dual-component COF monoliths
were fabricated with high spatial precision. This method not only
enables the development of COFs with sophisticated 3D macrostructure
but also facilitates the heterogeneous integration of COFs into devices
with interconnected interfaces at the molecular level.
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