A self-floating graphite felt evaporator: Interface wetting control and its application in environmental remediation and desalination

At present, the shortage of drinking water caused by environmental pollution hinders social development. The advent of solar interface evaporation systems provides an effective solution for clean water production. However, the issue of residual pollutants has not been adequately addressed. In this paper, we introduce BiOBr into the floating layer, which not only increases the roughness to achieve superhydrophobic performance but also photodegrades soluble pollutants. Additionally, to overcome the poor water supply capacity of carbon felt, we propose the use of a sodium alginate hydrogel, which reduces the evaporation enthalpy to 1690 J/g and increases the steam flux to 1.99 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 sun irradiation. It is hoped that the design strategies presented in this paper will provide a reference for optimizing solar evaporation systems and enhancing environmental purification.