Bioinspired Graphene Aerogels with Hybrid Wettability for Solar-Driven Purification of Complex Wastewater

作者：Yong Li, Xinyue Yang, Shiwei Yan, Jin Yang, Xiaohua Jia, Haojie Song · 发表于：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1021/acsami.3c14418 · 被引用次数：35 · 研究领域：Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods、Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity、Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems

Salt deposition and pollutant enrichment greatly hamper efficient and sustainable water production for a solar evaporator. Inspired by the desert beetle, a dual-region hydrophobic graphene/hydrophilic titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) aerogel (GTA) with internal hydrophilic–hydrophobic hybrid wettability structure is prepared via a facile freeze-drying and thermal reduction method. The evaporator shows adjustable wettability, optimized water content, and a low energy loss in the evaporation process. Simultaneously, the hybrid wetting structure in aerogel subjects salt to a dynamic crystallization–dissolution process to prevent salt deposition. The GTA solar evaporator achieves an evaporation rate of 1.52 kg·m –2 ·h –1 with a 91.02% efficiency under 1 sun irradiation. Furthermore, GTAs achieve a stable evaporation rate in high salinity brine (25 wt % NaCl) under 1 sun irradiation for 100 h, which could compete well with other most advanced photothermal evaporation materials. Moreover, the synergistic effect of graphene and TiO 2 endows GTAs with excellent photocatalytic degradation and self-cleaning properties, which can effectively reduce the enrichment of contaminants on the evaporator. Therefore, GTA evaporators can efficiently and stably obtain clean water from seawater and wastewater, which provides a feasible strategy for the purification of complex wastewater.