Recent progress of solar-driven interfacial evaporation based on organic semiconductor materials

Abstract

As an attracting technology to alleviate the scarcity of fresh water resources, solar-driven interfacial evaporation based on localization of solar-thermal energy conversion at the air/liquid interface via photothermal materials has been greatly developed. For the past decades, organic polymer semiconductors have been suggested as promising photothermal materials with intriguing evaporation efficiency due to their narrow band gap, superhydrophilicity and good thermal insulation properties, which facilitate the adsorption of the near-infrared area of the solar spectrum, the transport of water and inhibition of the heat loss during the evaporation. This review summarizes the primary mechanism of solar-driven interfacial evaporation based on various organic semiconductors. Then the current state-of-art in the development and the utilization of organic semiconductor in solar-driven interfacial evaporation for desalination of seawater and purification of wastewater are also illustrated. Finally, the research gap in the utilizing organic semiconductor solar evaporators in photothermal evaporation and the future research direction are summarized. This review would promote the development and application of the low cost and sustainable solar evaporator involved in organic semiconductors.