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Wood–hydrogel composites coated with C3N4 photocatalyst for synchronous solar steam generation and photocatalytic degradation

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Abstract

Developing interfacial solar steam generation-based water desalination and purification systems is considered a viable solution to freshwater shortages and energy crises. The design and fabrication of thermal materials with broad solar absorption is critical for efficient utilization of full solar spectrum. Herein, a wood-based hydrogel evaporator coated with C3N4 photocatalyst was explored for simultaneous solar evaporation and photocatalytic degradation. C3N4 photocatalyst can absorb ultraviolet photons to generate electron–hole pairs for photocatalytic degradation. At the same time, PDA@ZIF-8 can capture near-infrared visible photons to produce heat, which further improves the photocatalytic efficiency. The optimized evaporator achieves a TC photocatalytic degradation of 96.70%. It also acquires a high solar evaporation rate of 2.64 kg m−2 h−1 with an energy conversion efficiency of 89.23% at 1.0 kW m−2 solar irradiation. This multifunctional wood-based hydrogel evaporator provides a feasible freshwater purification and waste treatment solution.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallury (Wuhan University of Science and Technology, G202203), 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. Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Science, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Ziyi Shen, Xiang Wang, Xueling Xu & Yi Lu

  2. The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallury, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, China

    Yi Lu

  3. College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Deqi Fan

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  1. Ziyi Shen
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  2. Xiang Wang
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  3. Deqi Fan
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  4. Xueling Xu
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  5. Yi Lu
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Contributions

ZS performed conceptualization, investigation, methodology, data curation, writing-original draft. XW did formal analysis, methodology. DF provides formal analysis, Data curation. XX gave methodology, validation. YL contributes methodology, conceptualization, writing-review and editing, funding acquisition. ZS and XW contributed equally to this work.

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Correspondence to Yi Lu.

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Shen, Z., Wang, X., Fan, D. et al. Wood–hydrogel composites coated with C3N4 photocatalyst for synchronous solar steam generation and photocatalytic degradation. J Mater Sci 58, 13154–13164 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08849-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08849-x

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