All-In-One Self-Floating Wood-Based Solar-Thermal Evaporators for Simultaneous Solar Steam Generation and Catalytic Degradation

Solar-driven steam generation has emerged as a sustainable technology for addressing freshwater scarcity. However, significant challenges still exist in developing high-performance, multifunctional evaporators that are adept at both efficiently evaporating water and degrading pollutants, primarily because of the trade-offs among functional designs. Here, a self-floating solar evaporator is reported by functionalizing balsa wood with solar-thermal conversion material carbon nanotubes and catalytic manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoflowers for simultaneous solar evaporation and pollutant degradation. MnO2 nanoflowers are rich in oxygen vacancies that can effectively activate peroxymonosulfate to generate reactive oxygen species for efficient organic pollutant degradation. A distinctive non-wetted porous interior structure and a precisely targeted water pathway are spontaneously established in the multifunctional evaporator, ensuring fast water supply, thermal insulation, efficient mass transfer, and high buoyancy. The resulting evaporators successfully combine an impressive evaporation rate of 2.74 kg m-2 h-1, a high pollutant degradation efficiency (98.3% for 100 mg L-1 tetracycline and 97.4% for 200 mg L-1 Methyl orange), and stable self-floating and self-standing capabilities that ensure long-term operation stability even in complex real-world environments. This work provides an approach to design multifunctional solar evaporators, ensuring strong alignment with practical requirements while expanding their potential application scenarios. A self-floating wood-based solar evaporator decorating with solar-thermal carbon nanotubes and catalytic manganese dioxide components is fabricated for simultaneous solar steam generation and pollutant degradation by a cost-efficient and scalable strategy. The surface functionalization of balsa wood gives it a hydrophilic surface and a non-wettable internal structure, which achieves a rapid catalytic effect while ensuring a high interfacial evaporation rate. image