PubCard - Janus aramid nanofiber aerogel incorporating plasmonic nanoparticles for high-efficiency interfacial solar steam generation

(Peer-Reviewed) Janus aramid nanofiber aerogel incorporating plasmonic nanoparticles for high-efficiency interfacial solar steam generation

Hui Zhang 张辉 ¹ ², Lei Feng 封雷 ¹ ², Fengyue Wang 王凤玥 ¹, Mingze Liu 刘明泽 ¹, Yingying Zhang 张莹莹 ¹, Jia Zhu 朱嘉 ¹ ², Yanqing Lu 陆延青 ¹ ², Ting Xu 徐挺 ¹ ²

¹ National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
中国南京南京大学现代工程与应用科学学院智能材料与功能集成江苏省重点实验室固体微结构物理国家重点实验室
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China
中国南京人工微结构科学与技术协同创新中心

Opto-Electronic Advances, 2022-11-23

https://doi.org/10.29026/oea.2023.220061

https://www.oejournal.org/article/doi/10.29026/oea.2023.220061

Abstract

Interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) is a novel and potential solution to global freshwater crisis. Here, based on a facile sol-gel fabrication process, we demonstrate a highly scalable Janus aramid nanofiber aerogel (JANA) as a high-efficiency ISSG device.

JANA performs near-perfect broadband optical absorption, rapid photothermal conversion and effective water transportation. Owning to these features, efficient desalination of salty water and purification of municipal sewage are successfully demonstrated using JANA. In addition, benefiting from the mechanical property and chemical stability of constituent aramid nanofibers, JANA not only possess outstanding flexibility and fire-resistance properties, but its solar steaming efficiency is also free from the influences of elastic deformations and fire treatments.

We envision JANA provides a promising platform for mass-production of high-efficiency ISSG devices with supplementary capabilities of convenient transportation and long-term storage, which could further promote the realistic applications of ISSG technology.