Bioinspired Asymmetric Polypyrrole Membranes with Enhanced Photothermal Conversion for Highly Efficient Solar Evaporation

Abstract

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) has attracted great attention by offering a zero-carbon-emission solution for clean water production. The manipulation of the surface structure of the evaporator markedly promotes the enhancement of light capture and the improvement of evaporation performance. Herein, inspired by seedless lotus pod, a flexible pristine polypyrrole (PPy) membrane with macro/micro-bubble and nanotube asymmetric structure is fabricated through template-assisted interfacial polymerization. The macro- and micro-hierarchical structure of the open bubbles enable multiple reflections inner and among the bubble cavities for enhanced light trapping and omnidirectional photothermal conversion. In addition, the multilevel structure (macro/micro/nano) of the asymmetric PPy (PPy-A) membrane induces water evaporation in the form of clusters, leading to a reduction of water evaporation enthalpy. The PPy-A membranes achieve a full-spectrum light absorption of 96.3% and high evaporation rate of 2.03 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 sun. Long-term stable desalination is also verified with PPy-A membranes by applying one-way water channel. This study demonstrates the feasibility of pristine PPy membranes in SDIE applications, providing guidelines for modulation of the evaporator topologies toward high-efficient solar evaporation.