Flexible Fire-Resistant Photothermal Paper Comprising Ultralong Hydroxyapatite Nanowires and Carbon Nanotubes for Solar Energy-Driven Water Purification.

Efficient utilization of abundant solar energy for clean water generation is considered a sustainable and environment friendly approach to mitigate the global water crisis. For this purpose, this study reports a flexible fire-resistant photothermal paper by combining carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and fire-resistant inorganic paper based on ultralong hydroxyapatite nanowires (HNs) for efficient solar energy-driven water steam generation and water purification. Benefiting from the structural characteristics of the HN/CNT photothermal paper, the black CNT surface layer exhibits a high light absorbability and photothermal conversion capability, the HN-based inorganic paper acts as a thermal insulator with a high temperature stability, low thermal conductivity, and interconnected porous structure. By combining these advantages, high water evaporation efficiencies of 83.2% at 1 kW m-2 and 92.8% at 10 kW m-2 are achieved. In addition, the HN/CNT photothermal paper has a stable water evaporation capability during recycling and long-time usage. The promising potential of the HN/CNT photothermal paper for efficient production of drinkable water from both actual seawater and simulative wastewater samples containing heavy metal ions, dyes, and bacteria is also demonstrated. The highly flexible HN/CNT photothermal paper is promising for application in highly efficient solar energy-driven seawater desalination and wastewater purification.