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Fully Conjugated Covalent Porous Polymers for Highly Efficient Solar-Thermal Conversion
Liuliu Yang1, Xianghong Niu2,3, Shanshan Zhu1
1College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P.R. China.
Nano Letters
|January 27, 2026
Summary
New bipyranylidene-based microporous polymers offer efficient solar-thermal water evaporation. These durable photothermal materials achieve high water production rates from pure water and seawater using sunlight.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Solar-thermal water evaporation is a key technology for clean water production.
- Developing efficient and stable photothermal conversion materials is crucial but challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize and characterize novel bipyranylidene-based microporous polymers (DP-CMP1 and DP-CMP2) for solar-thermal water evaporation.
- To evaluate the photothermal conversion efficiency, stability, and water production capabilities of these new materials.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of fully conjugated bipyranylidene-based microporous polymers (DP-CMP1 and DP-CMP2).
- Photothermal performance testing using laser illumination and solar simulation.
- Fabrication and testing of an interfacial heating evaporation system.
- Spectroscopic and theoretical investigations to understand material properties.
Main Results:
- DP-CMP1 exhibited rapid temperature increase from 29.1 to 174.7 °C under 660 nm laser illumination.
- The evaporation system achieved high rates of 3.83 kg m-2 h-1 (pure water) and 3.77 kg m-2 h-1 (seawater) under 1 sun.
- Excellent solar-to-vapor conversion efficiencies of 97.5% (pure water) and 96.6% (seawater) were recorded.
- DP-CMP1 demonstrated broad light absorption, superior photothermal efficiency, and outstanding durability.
Conclusions:
- DP-CMP1 and DP-CMP2 are effective photothermal materials for solar-thermal water evaporation.
- The materials' performance is attributed to their small band gap, fast nonradiative recombination, large nonadiabatic coupling, and strong electron-phonon coupling.
- These novel polymers represent a significant advancement in materials for clean water production via solar energy.
Keywords:
BipyranylidenePhotothermal ConversionPorous Organic PolymersSeawater DesalinationSolar-Driven Water EvaporationMore Related Videos
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