Plasmon Ag-Promoted Solar-Thermal Conversion on Floating Carbon Cloth for Seawater Desalination and Sewage Disposal

Using solar energy to achieve seawater desalination and sewage disposal has received tremendous attention for its potential possibility to produce clean freshwater. However, the low solar-thermal conversion efficiency for solar absorber materials obstacles their practical applications. Herein, Ag nanoparticles modified floating carbon cloth (ANCC) are first synthesized via wet impregnation, photoreduction, and low-temperature drying strategy, which could float on the water and absorb the solar energy efficiently. It is worth noting that vaporization rate of ANCC with a high wide-spectrum absorption (92.39%) for the entire range of optical spectrum (200-2500 nm) is up to 1.36 kg h^-1 m^-2 under AM 1.5, which corresponds to solar-thermal conversion efficiency of ∼92.82% with superior seawater desalination and sewage disposal performance. Plasmon Ag promotes the conversion efficiency obviously compared to the pristine carbon cloth because the surface plasmon resonance effect could increase the local temperature greatly. After the desalination, the ion concentrations (Mg²⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Na⁺ ions) in water are far below the limit of drinking water. Such high-performance floating ANCC material may offer a feasible and paradigm strategy to manage the global water contamination and freshwater shortage problem.