Solar steam generation is gaining attention as a sustainable route to clean water production and residuals management. A variety of photothermal materials with broad solar absorption have been reported for this application, but challenges associated with scalable fabrication of high-performance materials and complexity of the synthesis remain. Moreover, most existing methods cannot be easily engineered to produce steam-generating devices with both arbitrary control over the substrate form factor and high photothermal efficiency. Herein, a flexible porphyrin organic framework (POF)-based interface engineering method is introduced to produce high-performance solar steam generators. POFs, a recently discovered class of materials, are demonstrated to grow readily on a diverse range of porous substrates, including membranes, fabrics, sponges, and wood through a one-pot in situ method. Wood@POF, using wood as the template, shows about 80% overall efficiency for steam generation under 1.6 Suns illumination. This study demonstrates a universal, simple, and scalable interface engineering strategy for the fabrication of solar steam generators based on POF materials. POF-based interface engineering design provides a pathway for the scalable fabrication of solar steam generators, with potential ramifications for desalination, wastewater treatment, and beyond.

Porphyrin organic frameworks for photothermally enhanced water evaporation

2019 Fall National Meeting

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