Porous Ni/CNTs composite membrane as solar absorber for highly efficient solar steam generation

Interfacial solar steam generation is emerging as a promising high-efficiency strategy to produce clean water by harvesting and converting clean solar energy into localized heat. Here, we demonstrate a facile and effective approach to improve the photothermal performance by combining porous Ni mesh and carbon nanotube (CNTs) to construct an all-in-one Ni/CNTs solar absorber. In this work, due to the multiple reflections of incident light inside Ni/CNTs and the electronic transitions in the molecule, the Ni/CNTs solar absorber can efficiently utilize solar energy (94.3%) with an excellent evaporation rate of 2.13 kg m(-2) h(-1) under one sun illumination. The interfacial solar evaporator based on the Ni/CNTs solar absorber effectively removed heavy metal ions and dye molecules from contaminated water and displayed stable rate (1.96 kg m(-2) h(-1)) for 46 h of cyclic evaporation, showing its great potential for practical seawater desalination.

Automated summary

The research team developed an all-in-one Ni/CNTs solar absorber by combining porous Ni mesh and carbon nanotube, which can efficiently utilize solar energy for steam generation and effectively remove heavy metal ions and dye molecules from contaminated water.