Synergistic effect based on Ag/GO aerogel doped with ZnO in solar energy-driven interfacial evaporation

Access to clean water is a fundamental right for all individuals. However, globally, there are still 2 billion people who lack access to safe drinking water on a daily basis. Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) has been widely explored in recent years as an effective and convenient method for desalination. However, the design and fabrication of photothermal evaporators still face challenges such as rational selection of interface materials, optimizing the evaporator preparation process, controlling the production cost, optimizing the thermal management system, and ensuring stability under different environmental conditions. This study employed a simple one-step hydrothermal and vacuum freezing method to prepare an aerogel with a synergistic effect for photothermal conversion. By doping the semiconductor ZnO into the Ag/GO composite aerogel, light absorption was maximized and efficiently converted into thermal energy, thereby improving overall photothermal conversion efficiency. The prepared ZAGA-1–1 photothermal evaporator achieved an evaporation rate of 3.52 kg m −2 h −1 at 1 kW m −2 with an efficiency of 92.63 %. Additionally, ZAGA-1–1 exhibits excellent hydrophilicity and salt removal ability, while maintaining a stable evaporation rate over 20 cycles. These properties demonstrate the great potential of ZAGA-1–1 for large-scale solar desalination applications.