MoS ₂ -Decorated Solar Evaporation Aerogel with Sugarcane Vertically Aligned Channels for Water Desalination and Purification

The scarcity of clean freshwater resources poses a significant constraint to global social and economic development. Although solar-driven interfacial evaporation offers a promising solution to this problem, its widespread application is hindered not only by the limited photothermal conversion efficiency but also by the complicated and costly fabrication processes of photothermal materials. Herein, the inherent vertically aligned channels in sugarcane stems are used directly to achieve efficient water transport. By hydrothermal carbonization of sugarcane stems, MoS2 is in situ decorated on the surface of the obtained carbon aerogel to enhance its photothermal conversion performance. The resulting MSC180 evaporator achieves a high evaporation rate of 2.36 kg m–2 h–1 under 1.0 standard sun illumination. Furthermore, the inherent structure of the sugarcane stem endows the evaporator with excellent salt resistance, enabling continuous desalination operation. The abundance of functional groups derived from the biomass precursor facilitates interactions with various organic dyes and heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions. Resultantly, the MSC180 evaporator integrates three functions, including solar evaporation, desalination, and adsorptive removal of pollutants. The strategy proposed here holds significant potential to propel solar-driven seawater desalination and wastewater purification technologies into practical application.