Animal Silk-Derived Amorphous Carbon Fibers for Electricity Generation and Solar Steam Evaporation

Abstract

Animal silk-derived carbon materials are of interest to various applications, such as smart cloth and wearable sensors. However, it remains a challenge to massively transform silks into continuous carbon fibers. In this work, carbon fibers based on two kinds of animal silks, i.e., Bombyx mori (B. mori) silk and Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi) silk, are prepared by using a large-scale-capable one-step heating process without any additives or activation process. These carbon fibers and yarns are electroconductive and mechanically robust. To expand the application of these carbonized silks, we further weaved them with cotton yarns to obtain composite fabrics with different textures and evaluated their performance for solar steam evaporation. Our results confirmed that the advantages of these composite fabrics in light absorption, large surface area, and hierarchical liquid transport channels allowed them to be used as a solar steam generation for desalination and sewage treatment. In addition, we reported that these conductive carbon fibers could be assembled into fluidic nanogenerators to generate electricity from the water flow. This work is expected to guide a large-scale preparation and use of animal silk-derived amorphous carbon fibers.

The Application of Textile Materials in Interfacial Solar Steam Generation for Water Purification and Desalination

“…Reproduced from ref. [ 87 ], copyright 2021, Fronitiers. ( f ) Fabrication of functionalized cotton fabric as 2D/3D SSG.…”

“…The fabrication process involves the in-proportion deposition of photothermal MXene nanosheets on a hydrophilic cotton fabric. However, the Carbon fibers derived from two types of animal silks, namely, Bombyx mori (B. mori) silk and Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi) silk, were fabricated by Qi P. et al [87] by using a single-step heating process on a massive scale without the need for any additives or activation procedures. The carbon fibers and yarns possess both electrical conductivity and mechanical strength.…”

“…RGO/Cotton fabric N/A 1.47 [70] Au-CNT/Cotton fabric N/A 2.19 [24] MXene/CNT/Cotton fabric 88.20 1.35 [58] MXene/Cotton fabric 83.10 1.38 [69] MWCNTs-COOH/Cotton fabric 86.01 1.18 [21] PEGylated MoS 2 /Cotton fabric 80.50 1.30 [108] PPy/Cotton fabric N/A 1.54 [88] PAN/Cotton composite fabrics 82.00 1.25 [87] PANI/Cotton fabrics 89.90 1.94 [109] Janus ink/Urushiol cotton fabric 94.30 1.64 [89] PPy/Janus cotton fabric 91.00 1.45 [110] PAN/Waste carbon fiber 88.70 1.50 [73] PAN/Composite Tencel (GOT) fabric 90.40 1.33 [90] (Ag NPs)/Cotton fabric 91.00 1.66 [111] Nonwoven fabrics PDA/CB@PP nonwoven fabric 91.50 1.68 [30] CNT/PAN nonwoven fabrics 90.80 1.44 [79] PP/PE nonwoven/MWCNTs 89.70 1.44 [37] CB/Nylon fabric 83.00 1.24 [41] PAN/Cotton fiber nonwoven fabric 93.30 1.59 [71] MnCDs@PPy/nonwoven cotton fabric 96.40 1.68 [112] Electrospun membranes CB/PAN//PVDF composite layer 82.00 1.20 [97] G/PPy/LIG/PI membrane 92.55 1.42 [60] PAN/CNTs nanofiber 94.50 2.13 [96] CNP/PCL nanofiber composites N/A 1.95 [113] CNT/PCL nanofiber composites N/A 2.00 [113] FIP-PZ/MOF fabrics 94.20 1.50 [114] Ag@MXene/PAN nanofiber membrane 92.40 2.08 [98] Ag@PAN nanofiber membrane 76.00 1.34 [100] SiO GO/PVA EFMs nanofiber mats 90.00 1.40 [5] Carbonized ultrafine PAN fibers 81.71 1.33 [92] Chinese ink/PLA fibers 81.00 1.29 [94] Knitting fabrics Carbonized basalt fiber fabric 82.50 1.50 [103] 3D dyed black cotton towel 72.00 1.40 [8] Chitosan/GO/3D spacer fabric 86.00 1.44 [47] PEI@CNTs/Waste cotton fabric 91.40 1.90…”

The Application of Textile Materials in the Interfacial Solar Steam Generation for Water Purification and Desalination: A Review

“…Carbon fibers derived from two types of animal silks, namely Bombyx mori (B. mori) silk and Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi) silk, are fabricated by Qi P. et al [87] by using a single-step heating process on a massive scale without the need for any additives or activation procedures. The carbon fibres and yarns possess both electrical conductivity and mechanical strength.…”

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation for water treatment: advanced research progress and challenges

“…6i). Qi et al 231 prepared carbon bers based on silk and wove them together with cotton (CBS/ cotton) to obtain composite fabrics. As indicated by their results, the material could be applied in oil-in-water emulsion to get clean distilled water through evaporation.…”