Superwetting Monolithic Hollow‐Carbon‐Nanotubes Aerogels with Hierarchically Nanoporous Structure for Efficient Solar Steam Generation

Abstract

Solar steam generation has been proven to be one of the most efficient approaches for harvesting solar energy for diverse applications such as distillation, desalination, and production of freshwater. Here, the synthesis of monolithic carbon aerogels by facile carbonization of conjugated microporous polymer nanotubes as efficient solar steam generators is reported. The monolithic carbon‐aerogel networks consist of randomly aggregated hollow‐carbon‐nanotubes (HCNTs) with 100–250 nm in diameter and a length of up to several micrometers to form a hierarchically nanoporous network structure. Treatment of the HCNTs aerogels with an ammonium peroxydisulfate/sulfuric acid solution endows their superhydrophilic wettability which is beneficial for rapid transportation of water molecules. In combination with their abundant porosity (92%) with open channel structure, low apparent density (57 mg cm−3), high specific surface area (826 m 2 g−1), low thermal conductivity (0.192 W m−1 K−1), and broad light absorption (99%), an exceptionally high conversion efficiency of 86.8% is achieved under 1 sun irradiation, showing great potential as an efficient photothermal material for solar steam generation. The findings may provide a new opportunity for tailored design and creation of new carbon‐aerogels‐based photothermal materials with adjustable structure, tunable porosity, simple fabrication process, and high solar energy conversion efficiency for solar steam generation.