Sponge-Based Aerogels for Efficient Solar Steam Generation

As a new type of solar energy utilization, solar photothermal water evaporation system has the characteristics of high photothermal conversion efficiency and green environmental protection, which can be widely used in the field of seawater desalination and sewage treatment. The bagasse carbonized by high-temperature pyrolysis was used as the photo-absorption material, and the polyurethane sponge-based aerogel photo-thermal conversion material was prepared with the double-network composite aerogel constructed by chitosan and polyurethane sponge as the substrate. It has good evaporation stability and is suitable for portable evaporation equipment. Moreover, when the carbonization temperature of carbonized bagasse was 500 °C and the addition amount was 1%, the evaporation performance of aerogel was the best. In the wavelength range of 200~2500 nm, its absorption rate can reach 98.2%, and its evaporation rate can reach 2.04 kg m−2h−1 at 1 kW m−2. In addition, the aerosol has good stability in general seawater and alkaline sewage, and is an effective method for solving seawater and sewage.