Manganese Dioxide/Biocarbon Composite Photothermal Material: Synthesis and Performance in Solar Interface Water Evaporation

doi:10.15541/jim20250365

Abstract

Abstract:

Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation technology, as an important approach for efficiently and sustainably generating clean water, is one of the hot research topics in the fields of materials and environment. However, the lack of low-cost and high-efficiency photothermal materials remains a key challenge for the widespread application of this technology. In this study, manganese dioxide (HMO) was uniformly grown onto camellia-derived biocarbon (CC) as the support and structure-directing agent, forming a manganese dioxide/biocarbon (HMO/CC) composite with low crystallinity and rich in defects. The resulting HMO/CC exhibits a high solar absorption efficiency of 94.2% in the 250-2500 nm range, as well as superior photothermal conversion capability to single-component HMO. The HMO/CC-MCE photothermal membrane assembled from this composite and mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filter membrane displays excellent hydrophilicity and photothermal conversion capability, achieving an evaporation rate of 1.505 kg·m^-2·h^-1 and an evaporation efficiency of 92.47% under 1.0 kW·m^-2 solar irradiation, which is better than those of HMO (85.00%) and CC (82.64%), and 9.9 times that of pure water without membrane. A three-dimensional HMO/CC-PU evaporator was then fabricated by integrating HMO/CC with polyurethane (PU) sponge, which can achieve a surface temperature of 68.3 ℃ within 600 s and an enhanced evaporation rate of 2.274 kg·m^-2·h^-1. Additionally, the device maintains a stable evaporation rate of 2.271 kg·m^-2·h^-1 after 15 cycles in a model seawater. In this study, the approach using biomass-derived carbon as a template to construct composites provides a valuable reference for the development of novel photothermal materials and their applications in desalination and wastewater treatment.

Key words: manganese dioxide/biocarbon, photothermal material, solar-driven interfacial water evaporation, desalination

CLC Number:

TQ174

FAN Shengqiang, ZHOU Shuhao, QIAN Junchao, MA Ruguang, WU Zhengying. Manganese Dioxide/Biocarbon Composite Photothermal Material: Synthesis and Performance in Solar Interface Water Evaporation[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2026, 41(7): 974-982.

Figures/Tables 12

Fig. 1 SEM and TEM characterizations for CC, HMO and HMO/CC (a-c) SEM images of (a) CC, (b) HMO and (c) HMO/CC; (d-f) TEM images of (d) HMO and (e, f) HMO/CC; (g) HRTEM image, (h) SAED pattern and (i) EDS elemental mappings of HMO/CC

Fig. 2 XRD, Raman, EPR and XPS results for CC, HMO and HMO/CC (a) XRD patterns and (b) Raman spectra of CC, HMO and HMO/CC; (c) EPR results of HMO and HMO/CC; (d) Mn2p and (e) O1s XPS spectra of HMO and HMO/CC; (f) C1s XPS spectra of CC and HMO/CC. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 3 Optical properties of CC, HMO and HMO/CC (a) UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectra of CC, HMO and HMO/CC; (b) Fluorescence emission spectra of HMO and HMO/CC

Fig. 4 Water evaporation performance of pure water, MCE, CC-MCE, HMO-MCE and HMO/CC-MCE membranes (a) Mass changes of water, (b) evaporation rates and efficiency of pure water, MCE, CC-MCE, HMO-MCE and HMO/CC-MCE membranes at 1 sun illumination; (c) Mass changes of water, (d) evaporation rates and efficiency of HMO/CC-MCE membrane under different light illuminations. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 5 Photothermal and water evaporation performance of PU, CC-PU, HMO-PU and HMO/CC-PU sponges (a, b) Surface temperature evolutions of PU, CC-PU, HMO-PU and HMO/CC-PU sponges at 1 sun illumination under (a) dry and (b) wet states; (c) Mass changes of water, (d) evaporation rates and efficiency of pure water, PU, CC-PU, HMO-PU and HMO/CC-PU sponges; (e) Mass changes of water, (f) evaporation rates and efficiency of HMO/CC-PU sponge under different light illuminations. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. S1 Flowchart depicting the preparation process of HMO/CC-PU hydrogel

Fig. S2 UV-Vis-NIR spectra of CC, HMO and HMO/CC (a) Reflection; (b) Absorbance

Table S1 Absorption efficiency of CC, HMO and HMO/CC for spectra in the range of 200-2500 nm

Sample	Total absorption	UV (<400 nm)	Visible (400-760 nm)	Infrared (>760 nm)
Solar spectrum	100%	7%	50%	43%
CC	93.0%	6.4%	46.6%	40.0%
HMO	90.9%	5.9%	44.8%	40.2%
HMO/CC	94.2%	6.4%	47.0%	40.8%

Fig. S3 Water contact angles of membranes (a-c) MCE; (d-f) HMO/CC-MCE; (g-i) PEI-MCE

Fig. S4 Photothermal performance of MCE and HMO/CC-MCE (a, b) Surface temperature evolutions of MCE and HMO/CC-MCE membranes in the (a) dry and (b) Wet states; (c) Infrared thermographs in the wet state

Fig. S5 Comparison of photothermal performance for HMO/CC and other materials (a) Mass changes of water for different photothermal materials; (b) Mass changes of water for photothermal materials prepared with different carbon substrates

Fig. S6 Cycling and salt-resistance performance of HMO/CC-PU (a) Evaporation rates under 15 cycles; (b) Mass changes in natural seawater and brine with different concentrations;(c) Salt resistance performance of HMO/CC-PU aerogel sponge

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