Interaction Promotes the Formation and Photothermal Conversion of Carbon Dots/Polydopamine Composite for Solar-Driven Water Evaporation

Carbon dots modified with polydopamine (CDs/PDA), a low-cost and environmentally friendly photothermal material, is prepared in this work. The results show that the polymerization of dopamine is significantly accelerated due to the interaction between CDs and dopamine. Importantly, the interaction also greatly promotes nonradiative recombination of photoexcited charge carriers, thereby enhancing the photothermal conversion performance of CDs/PDA. The obtained CDs/PDA composite shows superior photothermal evaporation efficiency in comparison with CDs and PDA owing to the enhanced light absorption, porous structure, and appropriate interaction. In addition, CDs/PDA exhibits excellent stability. These merits enable CDs/PDA show great promise in solar-energy-related applications.

Automated summary

In this study, carbon dots modified with polydopamine (CDs/PDA) were successfully prepared as a low-cost and environmentally friendly photothermal material. The interaction between CDs and dopamine significantly accelerated the polymerization of dopamine, leading to enhanced photothermal conversion performance. The obtained CDs/PDA composite exhibited superior photothermal evaporation efficiency and excellent stability, showing great promise for solar-energy-related applications.