Affiliation:
1. Institute of Energy Power Innovation North China Electric Power University Beijing 102206 P. R. China
2. The State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites School of Materials Science and Engineering Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai 200240 P. R. China
Abstract
Effective solar steam generation is regarded as a prospective technology for seawater desalination and water purification, owing to its capability of solar light absorption and heat conversion. Numerous efforts have been dedicated to exploring photothermal materials with various delicate microstructures. However, investigations of the coupling effect of structure and component still need to be done. Herein, a superior solar steam generator of 3D bicontinuous interconnected gyroid‐structured Au materials (Au gyroid) by depositing Au nanoparticles onto C. rubi butterfly wings is reported. Au gyroid is proven to possess the evaporation rate and efficiency of 1.29 kg m−2 h−1 and 74.0%, under 1 sun irradiation. What is more, the evaporation rate and efficiency of lattice‐structured Au materials (Au lattice) as a comparison are 1.14 kg m−2 h−1 and 65.4%. The outstanding performance of Au gyroid is mainly ascribed to its 3D densely distributed hotspots and interconnected nanochannels, which are beneficial for strong broadband light absorption, sufficient water supply, as well as confinement effect for water heating. This work will provide insight into the future design and synthesis of novel plasmonic absorbers in photothermal conversion, photocatalysis, and photovoltaic devices.