Gan, Zhicong, Sun, Wencai, Zhao, Shuang, Zhang, Zhen, Xie, He, Li, Xiangwen, Li, Xiaohua, Zhang, Peng, Song, Yilong, Xia, Yuanjia, and Yang, Zichun
[Display omitted] • A carbon-graphene composite aerogel (CFGOA) with a new Janus hierarchical porous structure was designed. • A facile synthesis strategy was designed for the Janus structured CFGOA which exhibited high-efficiency SIE desalination and salt resistance. • The aerogel exhibits superior seawater evaporation rate of 3.42 kg·m−2·h−1 in actual seawater with no salt crystallization. • The aerogel achieves non-saline crystallization evaporation even under hypersaline water. Solar-Driven Interfacial Evaporation (SIE) holds great promise in the field of seawater desalination. However, salt accumulation caused by long-term operation in marine environment significantly affects the evaporation rate and efficiency of SIE materials. Despite various structured SIE materials have been developed previously, critical challenges remain in high-efficient evaporation while preventing salt crystallization. Herein, a unique Janus hierarchical porous structure carbon-graphene composite aerogel (CFGOA) was designed and fabricated by a facile synthesis strategy for efficient and salt-resistance SIE seawater desalination. The CFGOA features double-region structure with separate surface wettability within its all-carbon framework, integrating a hydrophobic top light-absorbing rGO layer and a hydrophilic bottom porous carbon layer. Density, salt resistance performance and equivalent evaporation enthalpy are optimized by regulation the hierarchical porous structure of the CFGOA. Under 1 sun illumination, the CFGOA exhibits an outstanding evaporation rate of 3.42 kg·m−2·h−1 in actual seawater (∼3.64 wt%) without salt crystallization. Furthermore, the CFGOA achieve non-saline crystallization evaporation even under hypersaline water (up to 20.2 wt%). The CFGOA combine efficient photothermal conversion, smooth water supply channels, effective thermal insulation, and salt resistance effect. This work is expected to offer a fascinating strategy to the development of SIE materials for seawater desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]