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

Abstract

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. • A solar absorber by combining CNT onto the porous Ni mesh was designed for solar steam generation. • The solar evaporator has 94.3% solar absorptance. • The evaporation rate can reach 2.13 kg m −2 h −1 under one sun. • The evaporator shows great performance toward water evaporation from seawater and industrial waste water.