Vertically Aligned Graphene Sheets Membrane for Highly Efficient Solar Thermal Generation of Clean Water.

Zhang, Panpan; Li, Jing; Lv, Lingxiao; Zhao, Yang; Qu, Liangti · ACS Nano · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Efficient utilization of solar energy for clean water is an attractive, renewable, and environment friendly way to solve the long-standing water crisis. For this task, we prepared the long-range vertically aligned graphene sheets membrane (VA-GSM) as the highly efficient solar thermal converter for generation of clean water. The VA-GSM was prepared by the antifreeze-assisted freezing technique we developed, which possessed the run-through channels facilitating the water transport, high light absorption capacity for excellent photothermal transduction, and the extraordinary stability in rigorous conditions. As a result, VA-GSM has achieved average water evaporation rates of 1.62 and 6.25 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> under 1 and 4 sun illumination with a superb solar thermal conversion efficiency of up to 86.5% and 94.2%, respectively, better than that of most carbon materials reported previously, which can efficiently produce the clean water from seawater, common wastewater, and even concentrated acid and/or alkali solutions.