Conformal Microfluidic‐Blow‐Spun 3D Photothermal Catalytic Spherical Evaporator for Omnidirectional Enhanced Solar Steam Generation and CO ₂ Reduction

Abstract

Solar‐driven water evaporation and valuable fuel generation is an environmentally friendly and sustainable way for clean water and energy production. However, a few bottlenecks for practical applications are high‐cost, low productivity, and severe sunlight angle dependence. Herein, solar evaporation with enhanced photocatalytic capacity that is light direction insensitive and of efficiency breakthrough by virtue of a three‐dimensional (3D) photothermal catalytic spherical isotopic evaporator is demonstrated. A homogeneous layer of microfluidic blow spun polyamide nanofibers loaded with efficient light absorber of polypyrrole nanoparticles conformally wraps onto a lightweight, thermal insulating plastic sphere, featuring favorable interfacial solar heating and efficient water transportation. The 3D spherical geometry not only guarantees the omnidirectional solar absorbance by the light‐facing hemisphere, but also keeps the other hemisphere under shadow to harvest energy from the warmer environment. As a result, the light‐to‐vapor efficiency exceeds the theoretical limit, reaching 217% and 156% under 1 and 2 sun, respectively. Simultaneously, CO ₂ photoreduction with generated steam reveals a favorable clean fuels production rate using photocatalytic spherical evaporator by secondary growth of Cu ₂O nanoparticles. Finally, an outdoor demonstration manifests a high evaporation rate and easy‐to‐perform construction on‐site, providing a promising opportunity for efficient and decentralized water and clean fuel production.

Abstract

A three‐dimensional (3D) photothermal catalytic spherical evaporator with double‐layer structure that enables the theoretical light‐to‐vapor efficiency limits breakthrough and efficient clean fuels production. The isotropy of spherical structure exhibits the omnidirectional light absorption, reducing the influence of natural light incident angle on solar evaporation rate and circumventing the trade‐off between water condensation and photocatalytic reaction, which is significant for practical applications.