Graphene Infrared Radiation Management Targeting Photothermal Conversion for Electric-Energy-Free Crude Oil Collection

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 144; no. 34; pp. 15562 - 15568
• Main Authors: Cheng, Yi, Cheng, Shuting, Chen, Bingbing, Jiang, Jun, Tu, Ce, Li, Wenjuan, Yang, Yuyao, Huang, Kewen, Wang, Kun, Yuan, Hao, Li, Junliang, Qi, Yue, Liu, Zhongfan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 31.08.2022
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c04454

Graphene has been widely used as a solar absorber for its broad-band absorption. However, targeting a higher photothermal efficiency, the intrinsic infrared radiation loss of graphene requires to be further reduced. Herein, band structure engineering is performed to modulate graphene infrared radiation. Nitrogen-doped vertical graphene is grown on quartz foam (NVGQF) by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Under the premise of keeping high solar absorption (250–2500 nm), graphitic nitrogen doping effectively modulates the infrared emissivity (2.5–25 μm) of NVGQF from 0.96 to 0.68, reducing the radiation loss by ∼31%. Based on the excellent photothermal properties of NVGQF, a temperature-gradient-driven crude oil collecting raft is designed, where the crude oil flows along the collecting path driven by the viscosity gradient without any external electric energy input. Compared with a nondoped vertical graphene quartz foam raft, the NVGQF raft with a superior photothermal efficiency shows a significantly enhanced crude oil collecting efficiency by three times. The advances in this work suggest broad radiation-managed application platforms for graphene materials, such as seawater desalination and personal or building thermal management.