Metal-ceramic carbide integrated solar-driven evaporation device based on ZrC nanoparticles for water evaporation and desalination

Due to the superior characteristics of strong localized surface plasmon resonance, low-cost consumption, and substantial chemical and thermal stability, conductive metal-ceramic nitrides, such as TiN, ZrN and HfN, are considered promising photothermal materials for solar-driven water evaporation and desalination. Transition metal carbides have also been proposed as promising solar absorbers, making them suitable candidates for solar-driven interfacial evaporation and desalination. However, little attention has been paid to this aspect thus far. Here, to gain new insights into the evaporation and desalination performance, we chose ZrC nanoparticles (NPs) as the experimental subject to fabricate an interfacial evaporation device. The highest evaporation rate and evaporation efficiency values were 1.43 ± 0.04 kg m−2 and 98 ± 2%, respectively, for the ZrC NP-integrated device at a loading mass of 85 g/m2. Desalination was further tested using simulated water (3.5% salinity) and collected saline water (21% salinity) as sources, and the evaporation rate and efficiency reached 1.38 ± 0.1 kg m−2 h−1 and 96 ± 0.75%, respectively, under 1 sun illumination. Measurement of ion concentrations following the desalination process demonstrates the effective removal of major saline ions (Na+, Mg2+, K+ and Ca2+).