3D Interconnected Gyroid Au–CuS Materials for Efficient Solar Steam Generation
Peng Sun, Wanlin Wang, Wang Zhang, Shuqian Zhang, Jiajun Gu, Lan Yang, Dejan Pantelić, Branislav Jelenković, Di Zhang
Abstract
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR), a promising technology, is beneficial for various applications, such as photothermal conversion, solar cells, photocatalysts, and sensing. However, the SPR performance may be restricted by the 1D- or 2D-distributed hotspots. The bicontinuous interconnected gyroid-structured materials have emerged in light energy conversion due to a high density of 3D-distributed hotspots, ultrahigh light–matter interactions and large scattering cross-section. Here, a series of bioinspired Au–CuS gyroid-structured materials are fabricated by precisely controlling the deposition time of CuS nanoparticles (NPs) and then adopted for solar steam generation. Specifically, Au–CuS/GMs-80 present the highest evaporation efficiency of 88.8% under normal 1 sun, with a suitable filling rate (57%) and a large inner surface area (∼2.72 × 105 nm2 per unit cell), which simultaneously achieves a dynamic balance between water absorption and evaporation as well as efficient heat conduction with water in nanochannels. Compared with other state-of-the-art devices, Au–CuS/GMs-80 steam generator requires a much lower photothermal component loading (<1 mg cm–2) and still guarantees outstanding evaporation performance. This superior evaporation performance is attributed to broadband light absorption, continuous water supply, excellent heat generation and thermal insulation, and good light–heat–water interaction. The combination of 3D interconnected nanostructures with controllable metal–semiconductor deposition could provide a new method for the future design of high-performance plasmonic devices.