Carbonized daikon for high efficient solar steam generation

Abstract Steam generation by efficient utilization of solar energy is a promising strategy in seawater desalination and industrial wastewater treatment. Daikon, a cheap and scaled available crop, was chosen as raw material which was subjected to a carbonization process. The carbonized daikon possesses highly developed honeycomb cellular structure providing numerous interconnected channels. The close-packed pores act as photon traps leading to enhanced solar absorption of more than 95.5% in the visible region and more than 93.5% in the near infrared region. The excellent hydrophilic nature and the interconnected channels of the carbonized daikon provide strong capillary force for the quick transport of water. As a result, under one-sun irradiation, the carbonized daikon delivers a water evaporation rate of 1.57 kg m −2 h −1 and a solar steam efficiency of 85.9%. The carbonized daikon also shows great performance toward water evaporation from seawater and contaminated water, realizing the separation of water from pollutants and indicating its application versatility.