Multiscale Plasmonic Refractory Nanocomposites for High-Temperature Solar Photothermal Conversion

Abstract

Development of a refractory selective solar absorber (RSSA) is the key to unlock high-temperature solar thermal and thermochemical conversion. The fundamental challenge of RSSA is the lack of design and fabrication guidelines to simultaneously achieve omnidirectional, broadband solar absorption and sharp spectral selectivity at the desired cutoff wavelength. Here, we realize a ruthenium–carbon nanotube (Ru-CNT) nanocomposite RSSA with multiscale nanoparticle-on-nanocavity plasmonic modes. Ru conformally coated on the sidewalls of CNTs enables a spoof surface plasmon polariton mode for spectra selectivity; Ru nanoparticles formed at the tips of CNTs enable a localized surface plasmon resonance mode and plasmon hybridization for omnidirectional broadband solar absorption. The fabricated Ru-CNT RSSA has a total solar absorption (TSA) of 96.1% with sharp spectral cutoff at 2.21 μm. The TSA is maintained at over 90% for an incident angle of 56°. Our findings therefore guide full-spectrum optical and thermal control from visible to the far-infrared.

Facile Fabrication of Titanium Nitride Nanoring Broad-Band Absorbers in the Visible to Near-Infrared by Shadow Sphere Lithography

“…The thermal stability of the nanostructure is essential for high-temperature applications such as photothermal devices and thermal emitters. − To demonstrate the thermal stability of our nanoring absorber, the absorber was annealed at 600, 800, and 1000 °C for 2 h in a vacuum condition (Figure S3). After annealing at 1000 °C, the nanostructures were slightly aggregated, and there was a slight decrease in the absorption spectrum with an average of 7.7% at 400–900 nm.…”

Dipole–multipole plasmonic coupling between gold nanorods and titanium nitride nanoparticles for enhanced photothermal conversion

“…28–30 Moreover, the enlarged scattering and absorption of nanoparticles can be used for the enhancement of photothermal conversion efficiency. 31,32…”

“…[28][29][30] Moreover, the enlarged scattering and absorption of nanoparticles can be used for the enhancement of photothermal conversion efficiency. 31,32 Although plasmonic coupling has been widely implemented in the applications mentioned above, most applications were focused on plasmonic hybridization between dipolar modes, and very few applications were concerned with higher order plasmonic modes. Typically, for a nanoparticle much smaller than the incident light wavelength, its dipolar mode can be excited.…”

A Metastructure Based on Amorphous Carbon for High Efficiency and Selective Solar Absorption

“…For the last few years, carbon-based materials, such as graphene, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphite, carbon black and carbon dots, have drawn the interest of researchers due to their strong visible light absorption and the high photothermal conversion capabilities stemming from their conjugated structures (delocalized p-bonds). For example, Zhequn Huang et al realized a ruthenium-carbon nanotube (Ru-CNT) nanocomposite refractory selective solar absorber with multiscale nanoparticleon-nanocavity plasmonic modes, achieving a total solar absorption of 96.1% with a distinct spectral cutoff at 2.21 µm [15]. Lin, H et al experimentally demonstrated a 90-nanometerthick graphene metamaterial with around 85% absorptivity to unpolarized, visible and near-infrared light across nearly the entire solar spectrum (300-2500 nm) [16].…”