Rich Sites Research Articles

Engineering low-valent molybdenum sites in CoMoO4 nanosheets to boost electrochemical nitrogen-rich wastewater treatment

Electrochemical coupling nitrate-to-ammonia (NO3–-to-NH3) with urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is attractive for both energy-saving ammonia synthesis and comprehensive nitrogen-rich wastewater treatment. However, developing the efficient electrocatalyst that simultaneously promotes hydrogenation of NO3– and UOR is still challenging. Here, we engineered the porous CoMoO4 nanosheets with rich low-valent Mo sites (Mo(L)-CoMoO4-x) as a difunctional electrocatalyst for both NO3–-to-NH3 and UOR. The Mo(L)-CoMoO4-x displayed high Faradaic efficiency (93.33%) and selectivity (91.16%) for NO3–-to-NH3 and low potential (1.31 V vs. RHE) at 100 mA cm−2 toward UOR. Impressively, a low cell voltage of 1.83 V was needed for coupling UOR with NO3–-to-NH3 in two-electrode system. Mechanism study revealed that the introduction of low-valent Mo sites in CoMoO4 nanosheets accelerated the activation kinetics and multistep hydrogenation of NO3–, and also promoted the reconstruction of active CoOOH species for UOR, resulting the difunctional catalytic property for NO3–-to-NH3 and UOR.

Structural diversity and carbon stock of forest stands: tradeoff as modified by silvicultural thinning

AbstractIn forest management, merging stand structural diversity with carbon storage is essential for resilience and climate mitigation. This study assesses (1) how structural diversity in stands of spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.), pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), and oak (Quercus robur L. and Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) in Central Europe varies with age, site quality, and applied thinning grade; (2) these factors' impact on carbon stock; and (3) the link between structural diversity and carbon stock. Analyzing 26 long-term thinning experiments, we used the Gini coefficient of tree heights to measure structural diversity and species-specific biomass functions for carbon stock assessments. Our results show that structural diversity, highest in beech and spruce, decreases with stand age and on richer sites. Thinning enhances structural diversity in spruce and beech but reduces it in pine and oak. Unthinned or only moderately thinned mature spruce and beech stands outperform pine and oak in carbon stock (200–300 vs. 100–150 Mg C ha−1). C- and D&E-grade thinning halves carbon stock. A decrease in vertical layering with increased carbon storage varies across species. Given the same carbon stock, thinning from above maintains structural diversity in spruce and beech, while non-thinning or thinning from below promotes structural diversity in pine and oak. Based on the current silvicultural practice reflected by the NFI data of Germany, we argue that reduced thinning in previously D&E-grade thinned stands may slightly reduce their structural diversity. However, a suspension or reduction of thinning would strongly improve carbon storage (+ 100–200 Mg C ha−1) in the next 3–5 decades. We discussed options for reconciling structural diversity and carbon storage by silvicultural management of the four considered species in Central Europe.

Steering charge flow in hierarchical ZnIn2S4/TiO2/Ti3C2 heterojunction for noble-metal-free photocatalytic hydrogen production

The construction of effective photogenerated charge transfer channels through interface engineering is the key to achieving the highly efficient of photocatalysts. Herein, sandwich-like ZnIn2S4/TiO2/Ti3C2 nanosheets integrated type-II heterostructure with Schottky junction are reasonably fabricated by low temperature in-situ growth method. Benefitting from the intensive visible light absorption of ZnIn2S4, the fast electron transport of TiO2, the rich active sites in Ti3C2, as well as the intimate interface coupling and the matched band alignment among ternary components, enhanced hydrogen production can be achieved with ZnIn2S4/TiO2/Ti3C2 hierarchical photocatalyst under visible light irradiation in the absence of noble metal co-catalysts. The concept of coupling type-II heterostructure with the Schottky barrier can steer the charge flow and boost the charge carrier separation and transfer across the interfacial domain, which may spark new ensemble design for efficient solar energy harvesting and conversion.

Amorphization of MOFs with rich active sites and high electronic conductivity for hydrazine oxidation

The applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in electrocatalysis are limited by the perfect crystalline nature with insufficient coordinatively unsaturated sites and low electronic conductivity. Here, we report an electrosynthesis method to induce rapid assembly of amorphous MOFs on carbon cloth (denoted as aMnFc’/CC), achieving the amorphization of MOFs with rich active sites and high electronic conductivity. The long-range disordered structure of aMnFc’/CC forms a large number of oxygen vacancies to modify the coordination and electronic structures of Mn sites. In the electrocatalytic hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR), the aMnFc’/CC electrocatalyst exhibits superior activity to its crystalline MOF counterparts. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the unsaturated Mn centers present in aMnFc’/CC facilitate efficient electron transfer while simultaneously lowering the free energy of the rate-determining step in the HzOR process.

Selective hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural triggered bya high Lewis acidic Ni-based transition metal carbide catalyst

The high-efficiency conversion of biomass resources to biofuels has attracted widespread attention, and the active sites and synergistic effect of catalysts significantly impact their surface arrangement and electronic structure. Here, a nickel-based transition metal carbide catalyst (Ni/TMC) with high Lewis acidity was prepared by self-assembly of transition metal carbide (TMC) and nickel, which exhibited excellent performance on synergistic hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into liquid biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). Notably, Ni/WC with the highest Lewis acidity (4728.3 μmol/g) can achieve 100% conversion of HMF to 97.6% yield of DMF, with a turn-over frequency of up to 46.5 h−1. The characterization results demonstrate that the rich Lewis acid sites yielded by the synergistic effect between Ni species and TMC are beneficial for the CO hydrogenation and C–O cleavage, thereby accelerating the process of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Besides, a kinetic model for the HDO of HMF to DMF process has been established based on the experimental results, which elucidated a significant correlation between the measured and the predicted data (R2 > 0.97). Corresponding to the adsorption configuration of Ni/WC and substrate determined by in-situ FTIR characterization, this study provides a novel insight into the selective conversion of HMF process for functional biofuel and bio-chemicals.

Highly Curved Defect Sites: How Curvature Effect Influences Metal-Free Defective Carbon Electrocatalysts.

Topological defects are widely recognized as effective active sites toward a variety of electrochemical reactions. However, the role of defect curvature is still not fully understood. Herein, carbon nanomaterials with rich topological defect sites of tunable curvature is reported. The curved defective surface is realized by controlling the high-temperature pyrolytic shrinkage process of precursors. Theoretical calculations demonstrate bending the defect sites can change the local electronic structure, promote the charge transfer to key intermediates, and lower the energy barrier for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Experimental results convince structural superiority of highly-curved defective sites, with a high kinetic current density of 22.5mAcm-2 at 0.8V versus RHE for high-curvature defective carbon (HCDC), ≈18 times that of low-curvature defective carbon (LCDC). Further raising the defect densities in HCDC leads to the dual-regulated products (HCHDC), which exhibit exceptionally outstanding ORR activity in both alkaline and acidic media (half-wave potentials: 0.88 and 0.74V), outperforming most of the reported metal-free carbon catalysts. This work uncovers the curvature-activity relationship in carbon defect for ORR and provides new guidance to design advanced catalysts via curvature-engineering.

In situ construction of layered transition metal phosphides/sulfides heterostructures for efficient hydrogen evolution in acidic and alkaline media

Construction of electrocatalysts with exceptional intrinsic activity and rich active sites has proved to be an effective strategy for remarkably enhancing the activity of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, durable and highly efficient layered Re2P/ReS2 (RePS) heterostructures were successfully fabricated by an in-situ phosphating layered ReS2. Taking advantage of the unique layered structure can provide abundant reaction active sites and the strong electronic interaction between ReS2 and Re2P can enhance the intrinsic activity, the optimized RePS electrocatalysts show superior catalytic activities of 69 and 57 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for HER in alkaline and acidic media, respectively. The density functional theory results suggest that the formed heterostructures between ReS2 and Re2P play an important role in optimizing the catalytic kinetics of the electrocatalysts. This work not only demonstrates that modulation of the electronic structure of catalysts is an efficient way to improve the HER activity but also confirms that the layered RePS heterostructure is a promising candidate for robust and high performance HER catalysts.

Intercalating polypyrrole tuning interlayer space of V2O5 for advanced aqueous zinc ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries is considered as a promising system for large scale electrochemical energy storage system owing to their intrinsic safety, and low cost. Nevertheless, the industrialization process is slow due to the constraints of high-performance cathode materials. Adjusting the layered structure of V2O5 through metal ion or polymer intercalation can effectively improve low electron conductivity, vanadium dissolution, and slow ion transport kinetics. Herein, the conductive polymer polypyrrole-intercalated V2O5·H2O (PVOH) was successfully prepared via simple hydrothermal method and following interface polymerization reaction. Getting benefit from the insertion of polypyrrole, the prepared PVOH composite material achieves a V2O5 cathode with a more open structure, rich active sites, and greater stability, allowing for an expanded crystal plane spacing of 14.5 Å. Therefore, the PVOH electrode demonstrates a discharge capacity of 475 mAh g−1 and a cycling stability of 95% capacity retention after 2000 cycles. The intercalating conductive polymers strategy can become a new approach to improve the electrochemical behavior of vanadium oxide cathodes.

Engineering Local Graphitic Domains to Balance Defect Active Site and Electronic Conduction Ability in Coal‐Derived Carbon Anode for Superior Potassium Ions Storage

AbstractPotassium‐ion hybrid capacitors (PIHCs) are regarded as one of the promising candidates for large‐scale energy storage technologies. Nevertheless, the lack of suitable anode materials combined with fast ion diffusion kinetics and favorable cycle stability restricts their application. Herein, a catalyst‐confined graphitization strategy is proposed to synthesize low‐cost coal‐based carbon anodes, which have controllable heteroatom co‐doping and rich defect sites, together with local graphitic domains. Density functional theory calculations and kinetic analysis are performed to uncover the coupling effect for heteroatom dual‐doping and defective structures. Importantly, the introduction of graphitic domains ensures good electric conductivity and charge transfer kinetics while preserving rich defects and active sites. The optimized NC‐950 exhibits superior potassium storage capacity, which delivers a high reversible specific capacity (363.3 mAh g−1), impressive rate capability (93.9 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1), and stable cycling performance. As a practical device application, the PIHCs (NC‐950//AC) are assembled using the NC‐950 anode and commercial activated carbon (AC) cathode, which exhibits the maximum energy density of 97.0 Wh kg−1 and excellent cycling stability (10 000 cycles). Significantly, this work unveils a new pathway to developing low‐cost and fast reaction kinetics carbon anode for advanced electrochemical supercapacitors.

Advancing overall water splitting via phase-engineered amorphous/crystalline interface: A novel strategy to accelerate proton-coupled electron transfer

Traditional phase engineering enhances conductivity or activity by fully converting electrocatalytic materials into either a crystalline or an amorphous state, but this approach often faces limitations. Thus, a practical solution entails balancing the dynamic attributes of both phases to maximize an electrocatalyst’s functionality is urgently needed. Herein, in this work, Co/Co2C crystals have been assembled on the amorphous N, S co-doped porous carbon (NSPC) through hydrothermal and calcination processes. The stable biphase structure and amorphous/crystalline (A/C) interface enhance conductivity and intrinsic activity. Moreover, the adsorption ability of water molecules and intermediates is improved significantly attributed to the rich oxygen-containing groups, unsaturated bonds, and defect sites of NSPC, which accelerates proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) and overall water splitting. Consequently, A/C-Co/Co2C/NSPC (Co/Co2C/NSPC with amorphous/crystalline interface) exhibits outstanding behavior for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), requiring the overpotential of 240.0 mV and 70.0 mV to achieve 10 mA cm−2. Moreover, an electrolyzer assembled by A/C-Co/Co2C/NSPC-3 (anode) and A/C-Co/Co2C/NSPC-2 (cathode) demonstrates a low drive voltage of 1.54 V during overall water splitting process. Overall, this work has pioneered the coexistence of crystalline/amorphous phases in electrocatalysts and provided new insights into phase engineering.

Cobalt vacancy boosting Co3-xO4@C with superior pseudocapacitive lithium storage

The Co3O4 as anode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) suffers the sluggish electrode kinetics and severe capacity fade during the cycles. The defective engineering of Co3O4 with oxygen/cobalt defects is an effective strategy to optimize Co3O4 with enhanced electrochemical properties. Herein, a series of 3D inter-connected Co3-xO4@C-y nanostructures with abundant Co defects are synthesized through a hydrothermal approach with subsequent heating-controlled process. Benefiting from its rich surface cobalt-defective sites and the 3D interconnected frameworks, as well as its high surface area and residual carbon layer, the Co3-xO4@C-y synthesized at y = 400 °C as anode for LIBs displays superior pseudocapacitive lithium storage properties with an ultra-high reversible specific capacity of 1900.7 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1, excellent rate capability (e.g., 1415.1 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1) and ultra-long cycling stability (e.g., 1160.5 mAh g−1 at 15 A g−1 after 2000 cycles).

Graphdiyne chelated iron-based metal–organic frameworks for electrochemical sensing of antibiotic chloramphenicol with ultralow detection limit

Chloramphenicol (CAP), a broad-spectrum antibiotic agent that can inhibit protein synthesis, has caused environmental and human health problems upon excessive usage but to realize its ultrasensitive detection is still a great challenge. We report here the design and fabrication of a nanocomposite comprising graphdiyne (GDY) chelated iron-based metal–organic framework (Fe-MOF@GDY) with strong interfacial interaction to achieve high performance electrochemical sensing of CAP. Fe-MOF@GDY exhibits good selectivity, a linear range of 1 pM−24 mM and an ultralow detection limit down to 0.54 pM, among the best performance for CAP detection. It displays good reproducibility and storage stability with retained 98.4% of its initial response after 3 weeks. GDY with unique electronic structure enhances charge transfer of Fe-MOF for improved conductivity, and Fe-MOF nanoparticles are uniformly chelated on GDY for rich active sites towards CAP reduction. Fe-MOF also prevents GDY from being degraded, promoting long-term stability. A portable electrochemical chip is fabricated based on Fe-MOF@GDY, and is successfully used for accurate detection of CAP in lake water with recovery rates of 97.2–104.7%, demonstrating the practical on-site applications.

Levels of rare earth elements on three abandoned mining sites of bauxite in southern Italy: A comparison between TXRF and ICP-MS

The essential utilization of rare earth elements (REEs) for the production of several electronic devices is making the demand for them being increased all the time. This extensive use of these elements has also increased concern about human and environmental health. Previous studies have shown that REE levels are higher in environmental samples near mining sites, and they are highly possible to be transferred to biota. In this study, REE levels were determined in environmental samples collected from three abandoned mining sites of bauxite (Gargano, Otranto, and Spinazzola) in the region of Puglia, Southern Italy. The samples were digested and analyzed by two different techniques, Total X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) to investigate which technique is the most suitable for analysis of the REE content in samples from abandoned mining sites of bauxite. Only 6 REEs could be detected by TXRF, while all REEs were detected in all the samples by ICP-MS. Spinazzola is the richest site and Ce the most abundant REE in all three regions. REE levels are correlated between the soil and biota samples in many cases, although the calculation of the bioconcentration factor showed that REEs are not bioaccumulative. ICP-MS seems to be a more suitable technique for analysis of the whole REE content in environmental samples from abandoned mining sites of bauxite.

Elucidating Electrochemical Energy Storage Performance of Unary, Binary, and Ternary Transition Metal Phosphates and their Composites with Carbonaceous Materials for Supercapacitor Applications

Transition metal compounds (TMCs) are being researched as promising electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage devices (supercapacitors). Among TMCs, transition metal phosphates (TMPs) have good, layered structures owing to open framework and protonic exchange capability among different layers, good surface area due to engrossed porosity, rich active redox reaction sites owing to octahedral structure and variable valance metallic ions. Hence TMPs become more ideal for supercapacitor electrode materials compared to other TMCs. However, TMPs have got some issues like low conductivity, rate performance, stability, energy, and power densities. But these problems can be addressed by making their composites with carbonaceous materials, e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene oxide (GO), graphitic carbon (GC), etc. A few factors like high surface area, excellent electrical conductivity of carbon materials and variable valence metal ions in TMPs caused great enhancement in their electrochemical performance. This article tries to discuss and compare the published data, majorly in last decade, regarding the electrochemical energy storage potential of pristine unary, binary, and ternary TMPs and their hybrid composites with carbonaceous materials (CNTs, GOs/rGOs, GC, etc.). The electrochemical performance of the hybrids has been reported to be higher than the pristine counterparts. It is hoped that the current review will open a new gateway to study and explore the high performance TMPs based supercapacitor materials.

Endowing turbostratically porous carbon with rich edge nitrogen active sites for efficient capacitive removal of phosphate

The mitigation of phosphate in water is a pivotal concern for the prevention of eutrophication and enhancement of water quality. Capacitance deionization (CDI) technique possesses the merits of high removal efficacy, facile operation, and environmental friendliness, rendering it a promising strategy for phosphate elimination. Herein, the nitrogen-rich laminar porous carbon composites (NTPCs) prepared by direct pyrolysis of supermolecular precursor were utilized as phosphate capture electrodes. The resulting NTPC800 features a high nitrogen content turbostratically amorphous carbon framework, which facilitates efficient ion diffusion pathways and electron transfer. The abundant presence of edge nitrogen (pyridine and pyrrole nitrogen) optimizes the electronic structure of the carbon system and provides more active sites, thus leading to the boosted electrochemical activity and dephosphorization efficiency. Consequently, NTPC800 demonstrates a rapid phosphate removal capacity, achieving 73.51 mg g−1 within a mere 10 min at 1.2 V condition, which is nearly 6 times more efficient than that of the commercial activated carbon electrode. Moreover, it exhibited consistent phosphate removal efficiency across various pH ranges, coexisting ion interferences, and cyclic stability assessments. This study provides theoretical support for the utilization of edge nitrogen decorated carbonaceous electrodes to enhance charge transfer and provide additional active sites for efficient capacitive dephosphorization.

Washable and stable coaxial electrospinning fabric with superior electromagnetic interference shielding performance for multifunctional electronics

There is an urgent need for multifunctional and wearable smart devices to address the growing environmental impact on the human body, especially for pregnant women. However, it is big challenge to explore fabric combined multi-functions, such as EMI shielding, electrical therapy and biomotion detection while maintaining their intrinsic durability and washability. Here, we have employed an efficient coaxial electrospinning technique, followed by Ag precursor reduction and polydimethylsiloxane spraying to fabricate a multifunctional film which contains core–shell fibers with polyurethane/carbon nanotube (CNT) as core and polyurethane/Fe3O4 as shell. The CNT and the Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) form double conductive network for EMI shielding, electrical heating and biological motion detection. The Fe3O4 provides magnetic loss and helps the fibers to provide rich attachment sites for AgNPs. The obtained film has an excellent combination of high EMI SE (110.0 dB in X-band), large Joule heating (up to 230 °C at 3 V), good sensing performance and large sensing range of 230 % strain. In addition, it showed an extremely superior durability and stability in complex conditions, good breathability and wash stability, ensuring the comfort wearing. This study offers an outstanding paradigm to construct next generation intelligent fabric combined versatility, stability and wearing comfort for protection of pregnant women and military solider.

A High‐Performance Phosphate Potentiometric Sensor Based on Cobalt Nanoparticles Electroplated on Hierarchically Porous Laser‐Induced Graphene

AbstractPhosphate is an important fertilizer in agriculture and electrochemical sensors based on cobalt (Co) are promising for measurement of phosphate. The deposition of Co onto conductive substrates to form a nano/microstructured Co layer with rich active sites is a typical strategy to improve detection performances. However, the widely used substrates show smooth surfaces, which cannot provide extra active sites. Herein, a high‐performance phosphate sensor is fabricated by generating Co nanoparticles (NPs) on a hierarchically porous laser‐induced graphene (LIG) matrix with a large surface area. Specifically, a Co layer is first electroplated on the LIG matrix. Nevertheless, the pores of LIG will be blocked by the dense Co layer so the performances of the fabricated LIG‐Co sensor exhibit limited enhancements. Therefore, a “nearly all etching (NAE)” technique is developed to transform the dense Co layer to dispersive Co NPs and re‐expose the pores of LIG, both increasing the active sites. Compared to the LIG‐Co sensor, the LIG‐Co NP sensor displays overall superiority. The response time, sensitivity, and linearity are enhanced from ≈60 to ≈10 s, from 0.012 to 0.069 V dec−1, and from 0.973 to 0.998, respectively. The LIG‐Co NP sensor also shows a decent anti‐interference capability.

High Ecological Integration Within U.S. Art Teacher Education: A Collective Case Study

We live in a world of accelerating ecological devastation, where environmental violence is culturally and economically ingrained in dominant human societies. The term “Anthropocene” implies a threshold has been breached, and suggests radical reassessments of prevailing social, economic, political, and educational systems are needed. Some art teacher education programs in the United States deviate from predominant trends by embracing ecological integration and preparing art preservice teachers to implement ecological and environmental art pedagogies. Such “aberrant” programs offer rich sites to explore for methods that might be emulated beyond these singular cases. In this study, we examined how three U.S. art teacher education programs, identified as having high levels of ecological integration, infused ecological and environmental approaches into their course content and teaching methods. Themes included exposure to relational ways of being, entanglements with the land and community, collective productions of ecological integration, and infusion of art teacher educators’ multiple identities.

Enhanced resistance to K poisoning and SO2 & H2O on Ce0.63TiOx catalyst by sulfation treatment

At present, alkali metal poisoning is still a problem should be solved for catalyst deactivation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3. In this work, the Ce0.63TiOx (CT) catalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal method and it was used the wet immersion method of H2SO4 treatment to obtain CT-xwt%S catalysts. The NH3-SCR denitrification (de-NOx) activity, resistance to SO2 & H2O and K-resistant properties of catalysts were studied, and the catalysts were characterized by N2 physical adsorption, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, TEM images, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, NO-TPD, XPS, IR spectra of pyridine adsorption and in situ DRIFTS. The experimental results show that CT-0.5 wt%S catalyst has stronger resistance to K, H2O and SO2 than CT catalyst. Although the redox performance of the CT-0.5 wt%S catalyst is reduced, the sulfation treatment increased the surface acidity, which promoted the adsorption and activation of ammonia. This facilitates the high-temperature activity of CT-0.5 wt%S catalyst and enhances the K resistance of the catalyst. Satisfyingly, the strong interaction between K species and SO42− in the CT-0.5 wt%S catalyst protects the active sites to K poisoning. In addition, in situ DRIFTS results indicate that K poisoning depletes the acid sites, and the rich acid sites of CT-0.5 wt%S catalyst can be used as sacrifices site to coordinate with K, thus weakening the influence of K poisoning on catalyst. This work provides a new strategy for designing NH3-SCR catalysts with excellent resistance to K.

Preparation and characteristic of palmitic acid/flower-shaped CuS composite phase change material for effective heat storage and photothermal conversion

Designing and synthesizing the excellent heat storage and photothermal integrated composite phase change materials (PCMs) is an effective strategy for solar energy utilization. This work focuses on two kinds of CuS (cuboidal and 3D flower-shaped) with different morphology were designed as substrates and photothermal materials, and PA/F–CuS and PA/C–CuS composite PCMs have been prepared by melt-blending and vacuum impregnation method. Through SEM and pore structure characterization as well as leakage testing, it is proved that 3D layered flower-shaped CuS not only exposes the large specific surface area and rich adsorption sites, but also 2D thin layers can perform multiple reflections to improve the utilization rate of solar energy. The flower-shaped CuS is more suitable for the supporting material. Noteworthy, the latent heat of PA/F–CuS can reach 226.3 J/g, and the thermal conductivity is 0.3447 W/(m·K). Furthermore, compared with pure PA, the photothermal property of PA/F–CuS increased by 49.22–84.59%, and the photothermal conversion efficiency can reach 70.3%. This work provides an innovative idea for the design and manufacture of composite PCMs related to medium and low temperature solar energy storage, and has broad application potential in the field of thermal energy storage such as solar energy utilization and building insulation materials.