Advanced 3D wick-integrated corn cob biochar absorber for high-performance interfacial solar vapor steam generation

Recently, there has been much interest in photothermal material-based interfacial solar water evaporation (ISWE). Researchers have explored various materials and interface structure configurations for efficient solar thermal conversion into water evaporation. This paper draws inspiration from the natural transpiration capillary process using 3D cotton wicks that pass through the expanded polystyrene (EPS) and carbon foam (CF) coated corn cob biochar (CCB). The corn cob biochar developed by the pyrolysis process was heated at 502 and 595 °C for 50 min to produce the biochar. Corn cob biochar (CCB) was first ground manually, and after that, produced fine particles powder using a 75-mesh sieve. CCB surface morphology and absorbance were characterized using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), a UV–VIS spectrophotometer, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) radiation. The Brunauer‒Emmett–Teller method was used to analyze the specific surface area, pore volume, and pore surface distribution. The evaporation performance was evaluated under a one-sun solar simulator, yielding an evaporation rate of 3.99 kg/m2/h. A solar conversion water evaporation efficiency of 97% has been achieved. Demonstration has incredibly favorable outcomes by using CCB to support Sustainable Development Goal 6 and offering low-cost rotation for the scalable solar water evaporation system.