Arch-Bridge Photothermal Fabric with Efficient Warp-Direction Water Paths for Continuous Solar Desalination

Abstract

The interfacial solar evaporator is a key technology for eco-friendly desalination, playing a crucial role in alleviating the global water scarcity crisis. However, limitation of photothermal water evaporation efficiency persists due to inadequate water transfer at the water-steam interface. Herein, we present a new type of scalable and recyclable arch bridge photothermal fabric with efficient warp-direction water paths by a convenient shuttle-flying weaving technique. Compared to the previous overall layer-by-layer assembled fabric, our photothermal fabric precisely constructed effective water paths and achieved excellent water-heat distribution at the solar evaporation interface, which greatly improved the photothermal conversion efficiency and evaporation rate. By the design of the weaving process, the photothermal fabric shows a new interface contact mode of the water path fiber and polyaniline photothermal fiber. Besides, the arch-bridge type design not only minimizes heat loss area but also enhances the water evaporation area, resulting in high-efficiency all-weather available solar water evaporation. Furthermore, the results show that the temperature, evaporation rate and solar-vapor conversion efficiency of photothermal fabric can reach above 123 ℃, 2.31 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and 99.93% under a solar illumination of 1 kW m⁻². The arch-bridge photothermal fabric with an excellent water evaporation rate has been successfully established, which provides a new paradigm for improving the sustainable seawater desalination rate.

Graphical Abstract