Flame Synthesis of Superhydrophilic Carbon Nanotubes/Ni Foam Decorated with Fe2O3 Nanoparticles for Water Purification via Solar Steam Generation

Solar-driven water evaporation has been proposed as a renewable and sustainable strategy for the generation of clean water from seawater or wastewater. To enable such technologies, development of photothermal materials that enable efficient solar steam generation is essential. The current challenge is to manufacture such photothermal materials cost-effectively and at scale. Furthermore, the photothermal materials should be strongly hydrophilic and environmentally stable. Herein, we demonstrate facile and scalable fabrication of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based photothermal nanocomposite foam by igniting an ethanol solution of ferric acetylacetonate [Fe(acac)3] absorbed within nickel (Ni) foam under ambient conditions. The Fe(acac)3 precursor provides carbon and the zero-valent iron catalyst for growing CNTs on the Ni foam, while ethanol facilitates the dispersion of Fe(acac)3 on the Ni foam and supplies heat energy for the growth of CNTs by its burning. A forest of dense and uniform CNTs decorated with Fe2O3 nanoparticles is generated within seconds. The resultant Fe2O3/CNT/Ni nanocomposite foam exhibits "superhydrophilicity" and high light absorption capacity, ensuring rapid transport and fast evaporation of water within the entire foam. Efficient light-to-heat conversion causes the surface temperature of the foam to reach ∼83.1 °C under 1 sun irradiation. The average water evaporation rates of such foam are as high as ∼1.48 and ∼4.27 kg m-2 h-1 with light-to-heat conversion efficiencies of ∼81.3 and ∼93.8% under 1 sun and 3 sun irradiation, respectively. Moreover, the versatile and scalable combustion synthesis strategy presented here can be realized on various substrates, exhibiting high adaptability for different applications.