Lightweight, Mesoporous, and Highly Absorptive All-Nanofiber Aerogel for Efficient Solar Steam Generation

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Engineering
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Global freshwater scarcity necessitates advanced water purification technologies.
• Solar steam generation offers a sustainable solution using abundant solar energy.
• Developing efficient, low-cost, and eco-friendly materials is crucial for solar steam generation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a novel bilayer aerogel for efficient solar steam generation.
• To utilize sustainable and biodegradable materials, specifically cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
• To achieve high solar light absorbance and excellent thermal insulation properties.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a bilayer aerogel structure using CNFs and a CNT layer.
• Characterization of the aerogel's physical properties, including density and porosity.
• Evaluation of solar light absorbance across a broad spectrum (300-1200 nm).
• Measurement of solar steam generation efficiency and water production rate under simulated solar irradiation.

Main Results:

• The CNF-CNT aerogel exhibited over 97.5% light absorbance.
• The aerogel possessed ultralow density (0.0096 g/cm³) and high porosity (99.4%).
• Achieved a high solar-energy conversion efficiency of 76.3% and a water production rate of 1.11 kg m⁻² h⁻¹.

Conclusions:

• The developed bilayer aerogel demonstrates excellent performance for solar steam generation.
• The material is biodegradable, sustainable, and cost-effective, offering a promising solution for freshwater production.
• This work presents a new pathway for designing high-performance, eco-friendly solar steam generation devices.