An efficient photothermal conversion material based on D‐A type luminophore for solar‐driven desalination

Abstract

Abstract Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation is a promising technology for desalination. The photothermal conversion materials are at the core and play a key role in this field. Design of photothermal conversion materials based on organic dyes for desalination is still a challenge due to lack of efficient guiding strategy. Herein, a new D (donor)‐A (acceptor) type conjugated tetraphenylpyrazine (TPP) luminophore (namely TPP‐2IND) was prepared as a photothermal conversion molecule. It exhibited a broad absorption spectrum and strong π–π stacking in the solid state, resulting in efficient sunlight harvesting and boosting nonradiative decay. TPP‐2IND powder exhibited high photothermal efficiency upon 660 nm laser irradiation (0.9 W cm−2), and the surface temperature can reach to 200°C. Then, an interfacial heating system based on TPP‐2IND is established successfully. The water evaporation rate and the solar‐driven water evaporation efficiency were evaluated up to 1.04 kg m−2 h−1 and 65.8% under 1 sunlight, respectively. Thus, this novel solar‐driven heating system shows high potential for desalination and stimulates the development of advanced photothermal conversion materials.

Keywords

• luminophore
• photothermal conversion materials
• seawater desalination
• solar energy
• tetraphenylpyrazine