Efficient solar-driven interfacial evaporation of high-boiling organic solvents over arylamine-based conjugated microporous polymer/polyimide aerogels

Abstract

Herein, a promising solar-driven interfacial evaporation technology was developed for the efficient separation of high-boiling organic solvents. Three novel arylamine-based conjugated microporous polymer/polyimide aerogels, PI/PBP-Tr, PI/PBP-Te, and PI/PBP-He, were successfully synthesized through directional freezing technology, with a low thermal conductivity of 0.037, 0.035, and 0.034 W·m⁻¹·k⁻¹. The as-prepared PI/PBP aerogels exhibited remarkable solar-driven evaporation capabilities in high-boiling solvents including N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). Under 1 sun illumination, the PI/PBP-Tr, PI/PBP-Te, and PI/PBP-He evaporators achieved high evaporation rates of 2.47, 2.56, and 2.65 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ for DMF, respectively. PI/PBP-He evaporator had evaporation rates of 1.63, 1.02, and 0.54 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ for DMAc, DMSO, and NMP, respectively. Furthermore, the PI/PBP-He evaporator exhibited exceptional purification performance, achieving retention rates of over 99 % for dye molecules such as basic fuchsin, rhodamine B, and methyl orange.