Enhanced Solar Evaporation Using a Scalable MoS2-Based Hydrogel for Highly Efficient Solar Desalination

Interfacial photo-vapor conversion has been suggested as a cost-effective and sustainable technology for seawater desalination. However, the conversion performance was still limited by some drawbacks, like salt accumulation and poor mechanical stability. Herein, a scalable MoS2-based porous hydrogel (SMoS2-PH) with good mechanical stability and salt resistance was successfully constructed through a crosslinking foaming polymerization method. With the high porosity (92.63 %), the SMoS2-PH performed an impressive evaporation rate of 3.297 kg m(-2) h(-1) and photothermal conversion efficiency of 93.4 % under 1-sun illumination. Most importantly, the SMoS2-PH could maintain high and stable photothermal properties for 15 days on the surface of seawater. We believe that the excellent salt resistance, the high photothermal conversion efficiency, the ease of scale preparation method and the available commercial MoS2 make the SMoS2-PH a promising device for full-scale seawater desalination.

Automated summary

In this study, a scalable MoS2-based porous hydrogel with good mechanical stability and salt resistance was successfully prepared. The hydrogel exhibited impressive evaporation rate and photothermal conversion efficiency under sunlight, and maintained high and stable photothermal properties for a prolonged period. Therefore, it holds promise as a feasible device for seawater desalination.