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Hierarchically porous and high-strength carbon aerogel-based composite for solar-driven interfacial evaporation

  • Original Paper: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
  • Published:
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Abstract

High-efficiency and low-cost solar-driven interfacial evaporation is a promising approach for seawater desalination on ships, islands, and offshore platforms. Thus far, various nanostructured interfacial evaporation materials have been developed, and chemical regulation, surface engineering, and other modification strategies have been applied. As a result, the evaporation rate of interfacial evaporation systems has significantly increased. However, interfacial evaporation materials still suffer from disadvantages such as high costs and complex preparation processes. Furthermore, nanostructured materials exhibit poor mechanical properties, which limit their practical applications. In this study, we prepared a hierarchical porous carbon fiber felt-reinforced carbon aerogel composite for interfacial evaporation applications. The composite exhibited low thermal conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, and high evaporation rates in both pure water and seawater under 1-sun illumination. Moreover, the composite maintained a stable evaporation rate and excellent cyclicity for a long period under 5-sun illumination in high-salinity seawater. The low cost of raw materials, simple preparation process, and short production cycle are beneficial for the large-scale production and application of this novel interfacial evaporation material.

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Highlights

  • The carbon aerogels prepared using the principle of acid-base two-step catalysis have a high specific surface area (596.367 m2g−1) and low thermal conductivity (0.0625 W/(m K)), which enable them to efficiently absorb sunlight and provide an excellent thermal insulation effect.

  • The difference in shrinkage between carbon fiber felts and carbon aerogels is ingeniously utilized, so the composites have micron-scale macropores and defects to provide channels for vapor escape.

  • Under 1-sun illumination, the evaporation rates of the composites reach 1.131 and 1.046 kg m−2 h−1 in pure water and seawater, respectively, with an evaporation efficiency of 81%.

  • Due to the composite reinforcement of the highly elastic carbon fiber felts, the composites are able to endure a stress of 25.6 MPa when the strain reaches 75%. The strategy of carbon fiber felts reinforcement not only enhances the mechanical properties and durability of the composite but also avoids the brittle fracture of pure carbon aerogels.

  • The obtained composites combine low-cost effectiveness with high mechanical properties and durability.

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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51802347). Thanks to eceshi (www.eceshi.com) for the XRD analysis and Shiyanjia (www.shiyanjia.com) for the SEM test.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Shuang Zhao, Zichun Yang

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, Hubei, 430032, PR China

    Zhicong Gan, Shuang Zhao, Zhen Zhang, Kunfeng Li, Zhifang Fei, Xiaohua Li, Peng Zhang & Zichun Yang

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Gan, Z., Zhao, S., Zhang, Z. et al. Hierarchically porous and high-strength carbon aerogel-based composite for solar-driven interfacial evaporation. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 107, 388–400 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-023-06119-5

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