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A 3D pillar hydrogel assembled from multi-metallic oxides nanoparticles for plasmon-enhanced solar interfacial evaporation

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Abstract

Harvesting solar energy to convert thermal energy is a promising technology that enables substantial eco-friendly applications to alleviate freshwater and energy crisis. To realize rapid and energy-efficient solar driven steam evaporation, developing efficient photothermal conversion materials are significantly important. Here is a facile approach for constructing a three-dimensional (3D) pillar hydrogel based on FeCoNiCrOx (FCNCO) for effective water treatment. Taking advantage of high solar absorption property and low evaporation enthalpy, the CPH-2S can be capable of achieving surface plasmon resonance assisted water evaporation rates of 2.44 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 sun irradiation. This function endows the evaporator with a light-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 96%, which is induced by an elaborately constructed hydrogel with surface photons trapping and thermal localization capabilities. Meanwhile, the hydrogel exhibits salt resistance in seawater as well as the stability of solar evaporation performance. This work offers a rational design principle to create multi-metal component-based photothermal materials for developing a self-sustainable and solar-powered water-energy platform.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51902164). This work was also funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, Advanced Analysis and Testing Center, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, People’s Republic of China

    Huihua Min, Hao Zhang, Xueling Xu, Xiaofei Yang & Yi Lu

  2. College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, People’s Republic of China

    Deqi Fan

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  1. Huihua Min
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  2. Deqi Fan
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  3. Hao Zhang
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  4. Xueling Xu
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Contributions

HM: Performed the experiment and drafted the manuscript. DF and HZ prepared the materials and performed the experiments. XX assisted the data analysis and discussion. XY and YL supervised the project and finalized the manuscript. All authors have given approval to the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yi Lu.

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Min, H., Fan, D., Zhang, H. et al. A 3D pillar hydrogel assembled from multi-metallic oxides nanoparticles for plasmon-enhanced solar interfacial evaporation. J Mater Sci 58, 880–889 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-08055-1

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