High-Entropy Single-Atom Evaporator: Collaborative Omnibearing Light Trapping Stereo Structures for Efficient Water...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Efficient solar photothermal evaporation demands optimized thermal management, water transport, and light trapping.
• Existing photothermal materials face challenges in harmonizing these critical elements for high performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a novel high-entropy single-atomic metal doped porous carbon (HESA) material for enhanced solar photothermal evaporation.
• To investigate the performance of a HESA-based cone evaporator under solar illumination.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of HESA material with tunable hierarchical porosity and ultra-low metal content (1.77 wt.%).
• Integration of HESA into a 3D cone evaporator structure.
• Utilized molecular dynamics simulations and COMSOL simulations for analysis.
• Experimental testing under 1.0 sun illumination.

Main Results:

• The HESA cone evaporator achieved a high water evaporation rate of 2.86 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and 94.5% efficiency.
• Compared to flat evaporators, the cone design increased absorbed energy by 18% and evaporation rate by 58.7%.
• Molecular dynamics revealed improved water transfer kinetics, doubling intermediate water content.

Conclusions:

• The designed HESA material and cone evaporator offer an effective solution for solar interfacial evaporation challenges.
• The evaporator demonstrates superior performance through integrated thermal and light management strategies.
• This work advances the development of efficient and sustainable solar water evaporation technologies.