Metal-free functionalized carbonized cotton for efficient solar steam generation and wastewater treatment

Abstract

Water desalination via solar steam generation is one of the most important technologies to address the increasingly pressing global water scarcity. Materials for solar photothermal energy conversion are highly sought after for their cost savings, environmental friendliness and broad utility in many applications including domestic water heating and solar-driven desalination. Herein, we report the successful development of metal-free, low weight and cost effective functionalized carbonized cotton (CC) fibers for efficient solar water desalination and wastewater treatment. The CC fibers with nearly full solar spectrum absorption, efficient photo-thermal conversion and low-cost could provide excellent alternatives to the high-cost plasmonic-based materials for solar water desalination. We also report on a novel and simple device to mitigate the issues associated with conductive heat loss by utilizing the economically viable carbonized cotton materials as an irradiation surface placed on a low-density polyethylene foam that floats on the surface of seawater. The CC solar steam generation device exhibits average water evaporation rates of 0.9, 6.4 and 10.9 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ with impressive solar-to-vapor efficiencies of 59.2, 88.7 and 94.9% under 1, 5 and 8 sun illumination, respectively. Moreover, the device displays excellent durability showing stable evaporation rates over 10 steam generation cycles under 5 sun of solar intensity. Furthermore, the applicability of the CC device for the removal of organic dyes from contaminated water through solar steam generation is also demonstrated. The low-cost, simple design, high solar thermal evaporation efficiency, excellent stability and long-term durability make this CC device a perfect candidate for applications in seawater desalination and wastewater treatment by solar steam generation.