3D Carbonized Sunflower Head for Clean Water Production

A promising solution to seawater desalination is the biomass‐based interfacial evaporators due to their affordability, high productivity, environmental friendliness, and desirable photothermal conversion efficiency. This is an evaporator of carbonized sunflower head (CSH). The CSH is produced by isolating the sunflower receptacle together with its tubular florets, eliminating other floral structures and carbonizing the structure that is retained. The product of this process is highly hydrophilic and broadband‐absorbing material. It was shown that the performance of the sample carbonized at 400°C in 3 h (labeled CSH400) was the sample with the highest rate of evaporation of 3.3 kg·m −2 ·h −1 and the highest level of evaporation efficiency of 285.4% at a light intensity of 0.7 sun. With the distinctive three‐dimensional design, it was also noted that the CSH could utilize ambient energy rather than dissipate heat to the environment, thus increasing the evaporation, and the CSH could also be used in salty conditions without completely losing its functionality, with crystals forming on its surface being able to naturally shedding off in response. In this work, the author presents a low‐cost biomass‐based substance as an alternative pathway to be used in the production of potable water from seawater.