An Efficient Photothermal Conversion Material Based on D-A Type
Luminophore for Solar-driven Desalination
Abstract
Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is a promising technology for
desalination. The photothermal conversion materials are at the core and
play a key role in this field. Design of photothermal conversion
materials based on organic dyes for desalination is still a challenge
due to lack of efficient guiding strategy. Herein, a new D (donor)-A
(acceptor) type conjugated tetraphenylpyrazine (TPP) luminophore (namely
TPP-2IND) was prepared as a photothermal conversion molecule. It
exhibited a broad absorption spectrum and strong π– π
stacking in the solid state, resulting in efficient sunlight harvesting
and boosting nonradiative decay. TPP-2IND powder exhibited high
photothermal efficiency upon 660 nm laser irradiation (0.9 Wcm
-2), and the surface temperature can reach to 200
oC. Then, an interfacial heating system based on
TPP-2IND is established successfully. The water evaporation rate and the
solar-driven water evaporation efficiency were evaluated up to 1.04 kgm
-2h -1 and 65.8% under 1 sunlight,
respectively. Thus, this novel solar-driven heating system shows high
potential for desalination and stimulates the development of advanced
photothermal conversion materials.