Bioinspired Multifunctional Paper-Based rGO Composites for Solar-Driven Clean Water Generation

Abstract

Reusing polluted water through various decontamination techniques has appeared as one of the most practical approaches to address the global shortage of clean water. Rather than relying on single decontamination mechanism, herein we report the preparation and utilization of paper-based composites for multifunctional solar-driven clean water generation that is inspired by the multiple water purification approaches in biological systems. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets within such composites can efficiently remove organic contaminants through physical adsorption mechanism. Under solar irradiation, the floating rGO composites can instantly generate localized heating, which not only can directly generate clean water through distillation mechanism but also significantly enhance adsorption removal performance with the assistance of upward vapor flow. Such porous-structured paper-based composites allow for facile incorporation of photocatalysts to regenerate clean water out of contaminated water with combined adsorption, photodegradation, and interfacial heat-assisted distillation mechanisms. Within a homemade all-in-one water treatment device, the practical applicability of the composites for multifunctional clean water generation has been demonstrated.

Extremely Cost‐Effective and Efficient Solar Vapor Generation under Nonconcentrated Illumination Using Thermally Isolated Black Paper

“…This is also applicable to other reported solar vapor generation systems (e.g., ref. ) since they are also covered by a film of water and/or surrounded by heated vapor. However, this physical mechanism was not detailed in previous reports.…”

Morphology Control of Ag Polyhedron Nanoparticles for Cost‐Effective and Fast Solar Steam Generation

“…Most of the previous reports have mainly focused on the roles of the absorption spectrum for solar thermal conversion, and obtained the harvesting solar energy performances through artificial light simulator or laser in the laboratory . The practical running performances and dominant factors of harvesting solar energy for steam generation under the actual sunlight are rarely reported.…”

Reusable reduced graphene oxide based double-layer system modified by polyethylenimine for solar steam generation

“…Moreover, noble metals nanoparticles like golds are apt to fuse together after a long-time irradiation, which weakens the light absorption and subsequent local heating. Recently, some nonmetallic materials have been explored to absorb solar energy, such as titanium nitride [19] and carbon nanotube nanofluids [20], carbon-black-based gauze [21] and paper-based rGO composites [22]. A multifunctional porous graphene was also used for the conversion of light to heat because of their thermal, optical, and wetting properties [23].…”