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[Display omitted] The inevitable intermittency of solar illumination during the interfacial evaporation process can cause a reduction in the evaporation performance of solar evaporators. Here, we report the fabrication of a new solar-driven interfacial evaporator using MXene nanosheets as the photothermal layer, modifying them with conjugated microporous polymer hollow microspheres, and then compounding them with the phase change material, in this case, cetyl alcohol, to form a composite evaporator (CE) that can perform all-weather solar interfacial evaporation. By combining interfacial evaporation photothermal conversion with energy storage, the evaporator achieves an evaporation rate of 1.57 kg⋅m−2⋅h−1 at a light intensity of 1 kW⋅m−2 and 2.79 kg⋅m−2⋅h−1 at a light intensity of 2 kW⋅m−2. In addition, the evaporator attains an excellent solar evaporation efficiency of over 91% in both cases and even in salt water. In addition, interestingly, our CE exhibits excellent continuous evaporation ability, e.g., the mass of evaporated water was increased by 0.36 kg⋅m−2 at a light intensity of 2 kW⋅m−2 compared to the cavity evaporator without the phase change material (PCM) when solar light was turned off. These results could be attributed to the fact that the energy released by the incorporated phase change material allows the evaporator to maintain stable evaporation under conditions of insufficient or intermittent solar irradiation, potentially providing a new opportunity for addressing the intermittent problem of evaporation at the solar interface due to unstable light intensity, thus showing great potential for practical continuous desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Highly efficient harvesting, transfer, and storage of solar energy are of great significance for the sustainability of society Herein, we report the design and synthesis of conjugated microporous polymers hollow spheres (CMPs-HS) coated by graphene (GCMPs-HS) and compounded with the phase change material (PCM) octadecanol (GCMPs@ODA) for efficient solar photothermal conversion. The as-synthesized CMPs-HS shows a high specific surface (519.95 m2 g−1 and 309.26 m2 g−1), good thermostability, and lower thermal conductivity (0.33 W m-2h−1). By coating graphene, the light absorption remained about 90% in the visible light range, which allows light harvest for photothermal conversion. Taking the GCMPs-HS as a functional layer for the solar steam generation (SSG) system, a high evaporation efficiency of near 90% is obtained. After inhaling octadecanol, GCMPs@ODA are prepared and their latent heats are measured to about 217.4 J g−1 and 224.6 J g−1. Under 1 sun irradiation, the photothermal conversion efficiencies of GCMPs@ODA are measured to be 87.15% and 85.83%, the above merits applied in different conditions are superior to photothermal conversion materials reported in the literature. Thus, among the above merits, the fabricated materials are the competitive candidate which shows the great potential in the efficient application of solar energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Accelerate the adsorption and the enrichment of iodine ions under the simulated light source. • Concentration of iodine ions of collected condensate was decreased three orders of magnitudes. • High photothermal conversion efficiency (95.39%) and water evaporation rate (1.5879 kg m−2 h−1). Solar steam generation has recently received much attention as a new green and environmentally responsible technology for seawater desalination or wastewater treatment. Hence, a novel and efficient strategy is proposed for removal of radioactive iodine ions from wastewater by SSG method using carbonized conjugated microporous polymers (CCMPs) as photothermal conversion materials. Because of the porous structure and strong light absorption of the CCMPs-based interfacial evaporator and the excellent thermal insulation of the expandable polyethylene sponge, CCMP-1 evaporator achieved a high photothermal conversion efficiency (95.39%) and stable water evaporation rate (1.5879 kg m−2 h−1) at one solar irradiation. In addition, the using of green solar energy as evaporation driving force could accelerate the transferring of iodine ions containing water through CMPs derived solar evaporator, which in turn improved the mass transfer. More importantly, the results of interfacial evaporation experiments on aqueous solutions containing iodine ions (0.2 mmol L−1) revealed that the concentration of iodine ions in the collected condensate was only 0.0027 mmol L−1, which decreased nearly three orders of magnitudes of initial concentration. Also, the iodine ions in water were almost completely enriched by the interfacial evaporator CCMP-1. In view of the fact of big challenge of removal of radioactive iodine ions from wastewater, remaining in current technologies, the findings of this study might provide a simple and efficient solution for treatment of radioactive pollutions contained in wastewater using green solar energy as deriving force via the SSG method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]