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Journal:Advanced Materials

Abstract:Efficient solar–thermal energy conversion is essential for the harvesting and transformation of abundant solar energy, leading to the exploration and design of efficient solar–thermal materials. Carbon-based materials, especially graphene, have the advantages of broadband absorption and excellent photothermal properties, and hold promise for solar–thermal energy conversion. However, to date, graphene-based solar–thermal materials with superior omnidirectional light harvesting performances remain elusive. Herein, hierarchical graphene foam (h-G foam) with continuous porosity grown via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported, showing dramatic enhancement of broadband and omnidirectional absorption of sunlight, which thereby can enable a considerable elevation of temperature. Used as a heating material, the external solar–thermal energy conversion efficiency of the h-G foam impressively reaches up to ≈93.4%, and the solar–vapor conversion efficiency exceeds 90% for seawater desalination with high endurance.

First Author:Huaying Ren

Document Code:1702590

Volume:29

Issue:38

Translation or Not:no

Date of Publication:2017-08-01