Fibrous Aerogels with Tunable Superwettability for High-Performance Solar-Driven Interfacial Evaporation

Abstract

Highlights Hybrid fibrous aerogels with tunable wettability from the same molecular unit of vinyltrimethoxysilane are successfully developed. Superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic hybrid aerogels are integrated into a double-layered evaporator, showing robust interfacial networks to withstand repeated and tremendous compression for 1000th cycle. The evaporator delivers high water evaporation rates of 1.91 kg m−2 h−1 under laboratory conditions and 4.20 kg m−2 h−1 under outdoor experiments with the aid of wind (1 sun), enabling efficient salt rejection under continuous operation.

Keywords

• Cellulose aerogel
• Tunable wettability
• Thermal insulation
• Robust interface
• Solar vapor generation