Fabric interleaved composite hydrogels for high-performance solar-enabled interfacial evaporation

Two-dimensional fabric materials have been widely used for solar interface evaporation (SIE), but it still remains challenging to achieve strong interaction between the light absorbing materials and fibers, powerful water transportation capability, excellent salt rejection performance and high evaporation rate for the fabric-based solar evaporators. Here, we prepared a fabric interleaved composite hydrogel (FICH) for SIE. The acidified carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) were uniformly distributed in the hydrogel and formed hydrogen bonding with macromolecular chains. Water could be continuously pumped into the composite hydrogel through the superhydrophilic fabric for SIE with a reduced evaporation enthalpy. The thin FICH evaporator with excellent photothermal conversion performance possessed a high evaporation rate (up to 2.47 kg m(-2) h(-1)), great salt resistance and long-term evaporation stability and durability. In addition, FICH could work normally for SIE in some corrosive and emulsion solutions, and show broad application prospects in solar seawater desalination.

Automated summary

A fabric interleaved composite hydrogel (FICH) was developed for solar interface evaporation (SIE). Acidified carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) were uniformly distributed in the hydrogel, forming hydrogen bonds with macromolecular chains. Water could be continuously pumped into the composite hydrogel through superhydrophilic fabric for SIE with reduced evaporation enthalpy. The thin FICH evaporator exhibited excellent photothermal conversion performance, high evaporation rate, salt resistance, and long-term stability.