Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation from Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth with Matching Water Supply and Durable Fouling Resistance

Interfacial solar steam generation is a green and promising technique to capture solar energy for brine water desalination; however, it still faces grand challenges of thermal loss and salt fouling to promote the practical application with high performance and durability. In this study, we report that activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) with hierarchical microstructures shows superior light-thermal property for solar steam generation. A well-matching water supply path manipulated by cotton fiber nonwoven fabrics (CFNF) can bring about a high evaporation rate of 1.59 kg m–2 h–1 with optimum conversion efficiency of 93.3% under 1 sun. Rate matching between the water supply and vapor evaporation is revealed to be of great importance to full heat exploitation and efficient solar desalination. Moreover, the extra water supply pathway provided by CFNF completely eliminates the salt fouling phenomenon via timely salt dredging, guaranteeing the durability of the self-cleaning solar steam generation system. Thus, the appropriate ACFC+CFNF configuration shows its great potential application in durable and highly efficient solar desalination.