Highly Thermally Insulated and Superhydrophilic Corn Straw for Efficient Solar Vapor Generation

Abstract

Biomass-derived photothermal conversion materials are considered to be promising evaporator choices for cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solar vapor generation. Herein we demonstrate a double-layer flamed straw, which is a typical solar-driven interfacial evaporator that can directly convert solar energy into heat and then localize heat at interface for vapor generation. Benefiting from the unique structure of a natural corn straw, the flamed straw exhibits a high solar absorbance of 91%, ultralow thermal conductivity (0.042 W m^-1 K^-1), and a sufficient water supply. Notably, the flamed-straw evaporator achieves a fast evaporation rate of 1.497 kg m^-2 h^-1 and a high photothermal efficiency of 86% under 1 sun illumination, showing comparable efficiency with the reported studies. Our work highlights the promise of using the low-cost biomass-derived materials as highly effective solar vapor generators in the realm of seawater desalination and wastewater treatment.