The core-shell CuO/PDA@TA-Fe nanowires arrays on 3D Cu foam for solar evaporator and water purification with highly efficiency and stability

Photothermal nanomaterials can provide a viable solution to tackle water pollution and water shortage. However, the material design of photothermal nanomaterials with highly efficiency and stability presents a significant technical challenge. In this paper, functional high-efficient 3D solar evaporators were prepared on 3D copper foam with self-support CuO nanowires arrays, which are successfully coated by ultrathin PDA@TA-Fe nanofilms for making core-shell CuO/PDA@TA-Fe nanowires arrays. Under stimulated 1 sunlight irradiation, the core-shell CuO/PDA@TA-Fe nanowires arrays exhibited a high solar-driven water evaporation rate of 1.932 Kg·m−2·h−1 with evaporation efficiency of 92 %. The core-shell CuO/PDA@TA-Fe nanowires arrays demonstrated a relatively stable mass change after 10 cycles indicating the stability of this evaporator system. The evaporators were studied as solar-driven photocatalysis for photodegradation of organic waste in dye wastewater and presented high evaporation efficiency (91.6 %) in 3.5wt% NaCl solution under sunlight irradiation. Therefore, the core-shell CuO/PDA@TA-Fe nanowires arrays provided a new research direction for the development of solar water purification system with highly efficient and stability for a wide applications of future seawater purification and wastewater treatment.