Solar steam generation on scalable ultrathin thermoplasmonic TiN nanocavity arrays

Mascaretti L, Schirato A, Zbořil R, Kment Š, Schmuki P, Alabastri A, Naldoni A (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Nano Energy Elsevier

Book Volume: 83

Article Number: 105828

DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105828

Abstract

Plasmonic-based solar absorbers exhibit complete light absorption in a sub-µm thickness, representing an alternative to mm-thick carbon-based materials most typically employed for solar-driven steam generation. In this work, we present the scalable fabrication of ultrathin plasmonic titanium nitride (TiN) nanocavity arrays that exhibit 90% broadband solar light absorption within ~ 250 nm from the illuminated surface and show a fast non-linear increase of performance with light intensity. At 14 Suns TiN nanocavities reach ~ 15 kg h–1 m–2 evaporation rate and ~ 76% thermal efficiency, a steep increase from ~ 0.4 kg h−1 m−2 and ~ 20% under 1.4 Suns. Electromagnetic, thermal and diffusion modeling of our system reveals the contribution of each material and reactor component to heat dissipation and shows that a quasi-two-dimensional heat dissipation regime significantly accelerates water evaporation. Our approach to ultrathin plasmonic absorbers can boost the performance of devices for evaporation/desalination and holds promise for a broader range of phase separation processes.

Authors with CRIS profile

Patrik Schmuki Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffwissenschaften (Korrosion und Oberflächentechnik)

Involved external institutions

Palacky University Olomouc / Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci CZ Czech Republic (CZ) Politecnico di Milano IT Italy (IT) Rice University US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Mascaretti, L., Schirato, A., Zbořil, R., Kment, Š., Schmuki, P., Alabastri, A., & Naldoni, A. (2021). Solar steam generation on scalable ultrathin thermoplasmonic TiN nanocavity arrays. Nano Energy, 83. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105828

MLA:

Mascaretti, Luca, et al. "Solar steam generation on scalable ultrathin thermoplasmonic TiN nanocavity arrays." Nano Energy 83 (2021).

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