Fabrication of a Highly Efficient Wood-Based Solar Interfacial Evaporator with Self-Desalting and Sterilization...

Solar interfacial evaporation based on wood-derived materials has been considered a promising strategy for desalination and wastewater purification. Herein, we adopted delignified wood (DW) as the water transport substrate and lignosulfonate (LS)-modified narrow-band gap semiconductor nickel disulfide (NiS₂) as the light-absorbing agent (LS-NiS₂) to fabricate a high-efficiency evaporator (LS-NiS₂@DW). On the one hand, the high absorbance (>95%) within a broad wavelength range and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency of LS-NiS₂ endow efficient solar energy utilization. On the other hand, the hydrophilicity of DW facilitates water activation, which results in a lower evaporation enthalpy of LS-NiS₂@DW (1274.4 kJ kg^-1) than that of pure water. By combining LS-NiS₂ and DW, LS-NiS₂@DW achieved an evaporation rate as high as 2.80 kg m^-2 h^-1 under one sun irradiation (1 kW m^-2), and the evaporation efficiency reached 87.4%. Notably, LS-NiS₂@DW exhibits a high evaporation rate (2.42-2.69 kg m^-2 h^-1) in simulated seawater for 24 h with no salt crystals formed on the surface. Moreover, LS-NiS₂@DW shows high antibacterial activity with about 90% reduction in bacterial survival rate. This work could provide new perspectives for the design of a high-efficiency wood-based photothermal evaporator.