Wood‐Based, Bifunctional, Mulberry‐Like Nanostructured Black Titania Evaporator for Solar‐Driven Clean Water Generation

Developing an integrative and highly performant solar evaporator is essential for a solar steam generation technology to alleviate clean water scarcity. Herein, a bioinspired mulberry‐like black titanium dioxide loading on the surface of wood (BTW) as a solar absorber is constructed. Mulberry‐shaped black titanium dioxide nanoparticles not only possess outstanding full‐spectrum light absorption, but also multiple refractions and scattering of light are obtained by the special groove structure. The wood substrate provides natural and vertical water channels, resulting in excellent water transport and thermal insulation properties. Under a simulated light of 1 kW m −2 , the BTW achieves an evaporation rate of 2.04 kg m −2 h −1 and has a high solar steam efficiency of 90.06%. In addition, the black titanium dioxide exhibits an excellent photocatalysis degradation ability, which is able to achieve 90% degradation of the methyl orange and 50% degradation of the tetracycline solution. The bifunctional solar evaporator is capable of simultaneous desalination and degradation of organic pollutants, while opening up a new approach in the field of clean water generation.