Highly Elastic, Robust, and Efficient Hydrogel Solar Absorber against Harsh Environmental Impacts

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy
• Water Treatment

Background:

• Solar distillation is vital for water scarcity but faces challenges from mechanical stress damaging solar absorbers.
• Existing solar absorbers lack the necessary compliance and robustness for real-world applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate an elastic and robust hydrogel solar absorber with high evaporation performance.
• To address the structural damage issue in solar absorbers caused by mechanical perturbations.

Main Methods:

• Incorporation of ion-coordinated MXene nanosheets as photothermal units and mechanical fillers into a hydrogel matrix.
• Characterization of the hydrogel absorber's elasticity, robustness, and evaporation performance under various conditions.

Main Results:

• The hydrogel absorber demonstrated excellent elasticity and robustness due to ion-coordinated MXene nanosheets acting as cross-linking points.
• Achieved a high initial evaporation rate of 2.61 kg m^-2 h^-1 under one sun irradiation.
• Maintained stable evaporation rates of 2.15 kg m^-2 h^-1 under 100% tensile strain and 2.40 kg m^-2 h^-1 after 10,000 stretching cycles.

Conclusions:

• The developed hydrogel absorber offers a continuous and stable water desalination method.
• This technology presents a promising device for practical seawater distillation, overcoming mechanical limitations of traditional absorbers.