(Ca₀.₂₅La₀.₅Dy₀.₂₅)CrO₃ Ceramic Fiber@Biomass-Derived Carbon Aerogel with Enhanced Solute Transport Channels for...

The use of solar interface evaporation for seawater desalination or sewage treatment is an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach; however, achieving efficient solar energy utilization and ensuring the long-term stability of the evaporation devices are two major challenges for practical application. To address these issues, we developed a novel ceramic fiber@bioderived carbon composite aerogel with a continuous through-hole structure via electrospinning and freeze-casting methods. Specifically, an aerogel was prepared by incorporating perovskite oxide (Ca₀.₂₅La₀.₅Dy₀.₂₅)CrO₃ ceramic fibers (CCFs) and amylopectin-derived carbon (ADC). The CCFs exhibited remarkable photothermal conversion efficiencies, and the ADC served as a connecting agent and imparted hydrophilicity to the aerogel due to its abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. After optimizing the composition and microstructure, the (Ca₀.₂₅La₀.₅Dy₀.₂₅)CrO₃ ceramic fiber@biomass-derived carbon aerogel demonstrated remarkable properties, including efficient light absorption and rapid transport of water and solutes. Under 1 kW m^-2 light intensity irradiation, this novel material exhibited a high temperature (48.3 °C), high evaporation rate (1.68 kg m^-2 h^-1), and impressive solar vapor conversion efficiency (91.6%). Moreover, it exhibited long-term stability in water evaporation even with highly concentrated salt solutions (25 wt%). Therefore, the (Ca₀.₂₅La₀.₅Dy₀.₂₅)CrO₃ ceramic fiber@biomass-derived carbon aerogel holds great promise for various applications of solar interface evaporation.