Highly efficient solar steam generation via mass-produced carbon nanosheet frameworks

Abstract

Carbon nanosheet frameworks are synthesized on the gram scale by exploiting the reaction between Mg powder and CS2 vapor. This fluffy carbon nanomaterial coated on fabric shows high performance in solar steam generation. The carbon film has high optical absorption of ∼98% in visible and infrared spectrum. When under 1 sun solar-simulated light irradiance (1000 W m−2), the surface temperatures of dry and water-saturated carbon films reach 104 and 45 °C, respectively, indicating good heat localization. As a result, the carbon film under 1 sun illumination shows a high solar-to-vapor efficiency of 93%, which is higher than that of most photothermal conversion materials reported previously. The as-prepared carbon material may pave the way for harvesting solar energy to produce clean water at low cost.