Gel-emulsion templated polymeric aerogels for solar-driven interfacial evaporation and electricity generation

The efficiency of a solar-driven interfacial evaporation system is highly dependent on the materials used for light absorption, heat localization and water supply. Here, we report a new kind of porous polymeric monolith, and the relevant carbonized aerogels, which embrace desirable optical, thermal, and wetting properties for efficient solar-driven interfacial evaporation. With the utilization of an aerogel-based solar-driven evaporation system, a high-water production efficiency of 2.1 kg h−1 m−2 under 1 sun illumination with no convective flow was achieved. Meanwhile, electricity was also efficiently produced via coupling the solar-driven evaporation system with a home-made thermoelectric conversion device. The output power of the system is ∼66 W m−2 under 4 kW m−2 solar illumination. Owing to convenience in preparation and high performance in solar conversion and water transportation, the reported materials could provide new opportunities for solar energy utilization as they could be used to build efficient solar-driven systems to produce both clean water and electricity.