A Biomass Porous Carbon with Robust Salt Resistance Capacity for Continuously Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Desalination

Solar-driven vapor generation (SDVG) emerges as a promising solution to the global freshwater crisis; yet, the scalable applications in seawater desalination are significantly hindered by the salt deposition. Herein, we report a self-floating biomass porous carbon with robust salt resistance derived from a simple, one-step carbonization of the Elymus nutans. The material features a natural hierarchical pore structure and superhydrophilicity, which work synergistically to ensure a rapid water supply and effectively prevent salt crystallization at the evaporation interface. Under 1 sun illumination (1 kW m<sup>-2</sup>), the biomass-derived carbon achieves a high evaporation rate of 1.41 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> with a solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 88.9%. More importantly, it demonstrates exceptional stability, maintaining stable evaporation in 3.5 wt% and 15 wt% NaCl solutions for over 12 h, with recorded rates of 1.33 and 1.16 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>, respectively. The real seawater sample desalinating results verified the biomass-porous-carbon-realized high-efficient and robust solar-driven interfacial desalination. This work presents a sustainable, cost-effective, and salt-resistant material platform, offering a practical pathway for scalable solar desalination.

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Publication Details

Journal
Materials
Published
2026-03-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19061172
Primary Topic
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
Type
article
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article

A Biomass Porous Carbon with Robust Salt Resistance Capacity for Continuously Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Desalination

Xiaokun Wen, Shuai Liu, Pingping Liang, Wencui Xiu
Materials
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
article

A Biomass Porous Carbon with Robust Salt Resistance Capacity for Continuously Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Desalination

Xiaokun Wen, Shuai Liu, Pingping Liang, Wencui Xiu
article en

Abstract

Solar-driven vapor generation (SDVG) emerges as a promising solution to the global freshwater crisis; yet, the scalable applications in seawater desalination are significantly hindered by the salt deposition. Herein, we report a self-floating biomass porous carbon with robust salt resistance derived from a simple, one-step carbonization of the Elymus nutans. The material features a natural hierarchical pore structure and superhydrophilicity, which work synergistically to ensure a rapid water supply and effectively prevent salt crystallization at the evaporation interface. Under 1 sun illumination (1 kW m<sup>-2</sup>), the biomass-derived carbon achieves a high evaporation rate of 1.41 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> with a solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 88.9%. More importantly, it demonstrates exceptional stability, maintaining stable evaporation in 3.5 wt% and 15 wt% NaCl solutions for over 12 h, with recorded rates of 1.33 and 1.16 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>, respectively. The real seawater sample desalinating results verified the biomass-porous-carbon-realized high-efficient and robust solar-driven interfacial desalination. This work presents a sustainable, cost-effective, and salt-resistant material platform, offering a practical pathway for scalable solar desalination.

MaterialsVol. 19(6)
Electric Power University (VN), Northeast Electric Power University (CN), Qingdao Binhai University (CN), Jilin Electric Power Research Institute (China) (CN), Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
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