Abstract
Solar steam generation is a promising water purification technology due
to its low-cost and environmentally friendly applications in water
purification and desalination. However, hydrophilic or hydrophobic
materials alone are insufficient in achieving necessary characteristics
for constructing high-quality solar steam generators with good
comprehensive properties. Herein, novel hydrophile/hydrophobe
amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel is designed and used as a host
material for preparing solar steam generators. The product consists of
an internal cubic aerogel and an external layer of photothermal
materials. The internal aerogel is composed of electrospun amphipathic
Janus nanofibers. Owing to the unique composition and structure, the
prepared solar steam generator integrates the features of high water
evaporation rate (2.944 kg·m-2·h-1 under 1 kW m-2 irradiation),
self-floating, salt-resisting, and fast performance recovery after
flipping. Moreover, the product also exhibits excellent properties on
desalination and removal of organic pollutants. Compared with
traditional hydrophilic aerogel host material, the amphipathic Janus
nanofibers aerogel brings much higher water evaporation rate and salt
resistance.