Amphipathic Janus Nanofibers Aerogel for Efficient Solar Steam Generation

Solar steam generation is a promising water purification technology due to its low-cost and environmentally friendly applications in water purification and desalination. However, hydrophilic or hydrophobic materials alone are insufficient in achieving necessary characteristics for constructing high-quality solar steam generators with good comprehensive properties. Herein, novel hydrophile/hydrophobe amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel is designed and used as a host material for preparing solar steam generators. The product consists of an internal cubic aerogel and an external layer of photothermal materials. The internal aerogel is composed of electrospun amphipathic Janus nanofibers. Owing to the unique composition and structure, the prepared solar steam generator integrates the features of high water evaporation rate (2.944 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 kW m-2 irradiation), self-floating, salt-resisting, and fast performance recovery after flipping. Moreover, the product also exhibits excellent properties on desalination and removal of organic pollutants. Compared with traditional hydrophilic aerogel host material, the amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel brings much higher water evaporation rate and salt resistance. Hydrophile/hydrophobe amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel is designed and used as a host material for preparing solar steam generators. The microscopic combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials brings many advantages such as fast water evaporation, high-energy efficiency, excellent stability, and self-floating, salt-resisting, self-cleaning, thermal-resisting properties. The water evaporation rate can reach up to 2.944 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun irradiation.image