Bio-derived carbon-based materials with high photothermal conversion and microstructure transport channels for efficient solar evaporation and water treatment

Solar-driven desalination technology can effectively solve the problem of global water shortage. However, the complexity and cost of the preparation process have hindered the further development of solar-driven water evaporation devices. In this paper, a promising and economical solar evaporator was designed based on carbonized reed poles. The vertically aligned carbon structure and carbonized surface folds can increase the light-absorbing area for efficient photothermal conversion . Reed poles are rich in water transport channels, where the uniform distribution of polyacrylamide accelerates the water transport and shortens the evaporation pathway. As a result, the water evaporation rate is as high as 2.42 kg −2  h −1 under the radiant illumination of one sun. In addition, the evaporator device is effective for seawater desalination and dye wastewater treatment . Therefore, this environmental-friendly and economical solar evaporation system is an effective way to achieve water purification .