Facile Synthesis of Vertically Arranged CNTs for Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Water Evaporation

Solar-driven evaporation of water is a sustainable and promising technology for addressing the crisis of clean water. Herein, novel vertically arranged carbon nanotube (V-CNT) aerogels with a tree branch structure is facilely synthesized through an ice templating method. The V-CNT-based photothermal evaporator exhibits efficient broadband light trapping and super-hydrophilicity. Owing to the unique structure and ultrafast water transportation, a high evaporation rate of 3.26 kg m^-2 h^-1 was achieved by the three-dimensional V-CNT-based evaporator under a solar illumination of 1 kW m^-2. More significantly, the V-CNT shows excellent recycling stability and salt-resistant performance in seawater and may provide a novel strategy to the practical sustainable technique of water purification applications.