Sandwich hydrogel with confined plasmonic Cu/carbon cells for efficient solar water purification

Abstract

Designing low-cost and efficient evaporation system to maximize solar energy utilization is of great importance for the emerging solar water purification technologies. Herein, we demonstrate a universal sandwich hydrogel by...

State‐of‐the‐Art Advances, Development, and Challenges of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Nanomaterials for Photothermal Solar Steam Generation

“…Tian et al also proposed a Cu/carbon cells plasmonic photoabsorber under cost consideration, as Cu is of much lower cost as compared to conventional noble metals while presents a broader plasmonic absorption spectrum. [47,48] When Cu nanoparticles expose to air, oxidation of Cu nanoparticles is expected to occur, which is destructive for surface plasmon resonance. [49] Hence, unlike the noble metals, a strategy to anchor Cu nanoparticles is required for Cu protection.…”

Recent developments of hydrogel based solar water purification technology

“…Common plasmonic nanoparticles used as solar absorbers include Ag, 73–76 Au, 77 CuS, 78–81 Cu, 44,82 and so on. Recently, Wang et al 26 reported novel plasmonic Cu 7 S 4 –MoS 2 –Au composite nanoparticles (CMA NPs) with broad absorption and high photothermal conversion efficiency, which arises from the coupling effect among Cu 7 S 4 , MoS 2 and Au, as well as the comprehensive utilization of their advantages (Fig.…”

“…Carbon-based materials have been used as solar absorbers in various studies in recent years, owing to their excellent light absorption over a broad spectrum, ease of preparation, abundance and low cost. Carbon-based materials include activated carbon, 83–86 polymer 76,87–90 or biomass 82,91–95 derived carbide, carbon black 96–101 and various amorphous carbon materials and highly graphitized carbon materials, such as graphene, 56,59,63,74,77,102–122 carbon nanotubes (CNTs) 27,123–130 and their derivatives.…”

“…This study thus proved its higher energy conversion efficiency compared with the evaporator with evenly distributed solar absorbers. In addition, there are some other methods to confine the solar absorbers on the surface layer, such as using the difference in surface tension between ethanol and water, 134 concentrating them on one end of the hydrogel under gravity, 82 carbonizing the upper side of the hydrogel, 90,162 and so on.…”

Ultrablack Poly(vinyl alcohol)‐Graphite Composite Xerogel with Vertically Arranged Pores for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation and Desalination

“…In the past few years, some efficient evaporators based on different ultrablack materials such as metal nanoparticles, [23][24][25] semiconductors, [26][27][28] carbon materials, [29][30][31][32][33][34] polymers, [35][36][37] and others [38][39][40][41][42] have been reported. However, there are still one or more disadvantages of these evaporators in practical application, such as the use of expensive metals, the strict and complex chemical synthesis process to achieve high absorbance, synthesis process involving high temperature and pressure, and poor durability.…”