Designing Carbonized Loofah Sponge Architectures with Plasmonic Cu Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Graphitic Layers for Highly Efficient Solar Vapor Generation

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 1709 - 1715
• Main Authors: Ren, Liteng, Yi, Xinli, Yang, Zhongshan, Wang, Defa, Liu, Lequan, Ye, Jinhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 24.02.2021
• Subjects: solar vapor generation; graphene layers; Plasmonic Cu nanoparticles; high stability; carbonized materials
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04511

Solar vapor generation represents a promising approach to alleviate water shortage for producing fresh water from undrinkable water resources. Although Cu-based plasmonics have attracted tremendous interest due to efficient light-to-heat conversion, their application faces great challenges in the oxidation resistance of Cu and low evaporation rate. Herein, a hybrid of three-dimensional carbonized loofah sponges and graphene layers encapsulated Cu nanoparticles is successfully synthesized via a facile pyrolysis method. In addition to effective light harvesting, the localized heating effect of stabilized Cu nanoparticles remarkably elevated the surface temperature of Cu@C/CLS to 72 °C, and a vapor generation rate as high as 1.54 kg m–2 h–1 with solar thermal efficiency reaching 90.2% under 1 Sun illumination was achieved. A study in the purification of sewage and muddy water with Cu@C/CLS demonstrates a promising perspective in a practical application. These results may offer a new inspiration for the design of efficient nonprecious Cu-based photothermal materials.