Copper nanoparticles with near-unity, omnidirectional, and broadband optical absorption for highly efficient solar steam generation

Lin, Yawen; Chen, Zhihui; Fang, Liang; Meng, Ming; Liu, Zhanfeng; Di, Yunsong; Cai, Wei; Huang, Shaojian; Gan, Zhixing

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/aae678

Cited by 67 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…[ 1–6 ] The development and design of photothermal conversion materials, which can absorb solar irradiation and convert it into heat, is one of the focuses in this field. [ 7–9 ] To date, various types of light absorbers, such as metallic nanoparticles, [ 10–13 ] carbon‐based materials, [ 14–16 ] polymers, [ 17–19 ] and semiconductors [ 20–22 ] have been demonstrated for efficient solar absorption. [ 23,24 ] Among them, carbon‐based materials, including exfoliated graphite, graphene, carbon nanotubes, and other carbon materials have attracted extensive attention due to their high‐efficiency, chemical stability, and excellent broadband solar absorption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentrated Acid‐Induced Dehydration of Fallen Leaves for Efficient, Sustainable, and Self‐Cleaning Solar Steam Generation

Shan

Xiong

Sheng

et al. 2020

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

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To develop solar steam generation (SGG) for water treatment, light absorbers have been widely synthesized by carbonization of plants at high temperature. However, the thermal treatment has high energy‐consumption and is environmentally unfriendly. Thus, it is urgent to explore new green approaches to convert biomasses to carbon materials for SSG. Herein, a concentrated acid‐induced dehydration method is developed to convert fallen leaves to carbon powders, fallen‐leaf photothermal film prepared by dehydration (FLPD). The resultant FLPD exhibits a strong absorption covering a wide spectrum. It also contains sufficient oxygen‐containing groups on the surface, leading to low water evaporation enthalpy. To meet the demands of practical applications, the FLPD membrane is modified with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to improve the mechanical stabilities and the surface wettability is further enhanced by an oxygen plasma treatment. An SSG device based on the modified membrane attains a competitive evaporation rate of 1.355 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 sun irradiation. The evaporation rate remains approximately constant when evaporating the seawater. Moreover, the salt deposited on the surface could be self‐cleaned due to the high wettability. Therefore, herein, it is demonstrated that concentrated acid‐induced dehydration is an effective and green approach to convert cheap biomasses to carbon materials for SSG applications.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentrated Acid‐Induced Dehydration of Fallen Leaves for Efficient, Sustainable, and Self‐Cleaning Solar Steam Generation

Shan

Xiong

Sheng

et al. 2020

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

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“…Plasmonic metals are another category of high-performance photothermal materials, such as gold, [49][50][51] silver, [52] palladium, [53] aluminum, [54] copper, [55,56] and indium. [57] They were applied in photothermal therapy in early research, and then their application was extended to solar-driven evaporation.…”

Section: Photothermal Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photothermal Devices for Sustainable Uses Beyond Desalination

Chen

Wang

et al. 2021

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

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Solar energy is an abundant clean and renewable energy source that has found wide uses in many energy‐intensive applications. It is normally transformed into other forms for certain applications, and light‐to‐heat conversion is one of the most common and efficient ways to utilize solar power. Previous reviews mostly focus on the solar‐driven evaporation for desalination, but few mention other applications in which the photothermal materials play a vital role. Herein, a Review regarding the sustainable uses of photothermal devices beyond desalination is presented. The recent developments of photothermal materials and progress on their applications in wastewater treatment, oil‐spill cleanup, moisture capture, energy harvesting during evaporation, sterilization, deicing, etc. are summarized. Herein, the working principles as well as property requirements in these applications are discussed and also the challenges with opportunities in future research are presented.

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“…Namely, bulk heating or localized plasma heating of metals, interfacial heating or non‐radiative semi‐conductor relaxation, and molecular thermal vibrations, based on various interaction mechanisms between electromagnetic radiation and matter. [ 4,6,13,14,16,17,19,29,58,61,73,91,92 ]…”

Section: Photothermal Conversion Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoenabled Photothermal Materials for Clean Water Production

2020

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Solar‐powered water evaporation is a primitive technology but interest has revived in the last five years due to the use of nanoenabled photothermal absorbers. The cutting‐edge nanoenabled photothermal materials can exploit a full spectrum of solar radiation with exceptionally high photothermal conversion efficiency. Additionally, photothermal design through heat management and the hierarchy of smooth water‐flow channels have evolved in parallel. Indeed, the integration of all desirable functions into one photothermal layer remains an essential challenge for an effective yield of clean water in remote‐sensing areas. Some nanoenabled photothermal prototypes equipped with unprecedented water evaporation rates have been reported recently for clean water production. Many barriers and difficulties remain, despite the latest scientific and practical implementation developments. This Review seeks to inspire nanoenvironmental research communities to drive onward toward real‐time solar‐driven clean water production.

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Copper nanoparticles with near-unity, omnidirectional, and broadband optical absorption for highly efficient solar steam generation

Cited by 67 publications

References 47 publications

Concentrated Acid‐Induced Dehydration of Fallen Leaves for Efficient, Sustainable, and Self‐Cleaning Solar Steam Generation

Concentrated Acid‐Induced Dehydration of Fallen Leaves for Efficient, Sustainable, and Self‐Cleaning Solar Steam Generation

Photothermal Devices for Sustainable Uses Beyond Desalination

Nanoenabled Photothermal Materials for Clean Water Production

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