Xu Yaning, Ai Shiyan, Wu Tiantian, Zhou Chengxu, Huang Qing, Li Baiyan, Tian Dan, Bu Xian-He
Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials and Science Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, P. R. China.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Institute for, Advanced Materials, TKL of Metal and Molecule-Based Material Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, P. R. China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Mar 24;64(13):e202421990. doi: 10.1002/anie.202421990. Epub 2025 Jan 28.
Efficient utilization of solar energy is widely regarded as a crucial solution to addressing the energy crisis and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Coupling photothermal and photochemical conversion can effectively improve solar energy utilization yet remains challenging. Here, inspired by the photosynthesis system in green plants, we report herein an artificial solar energy converter (ASEC) composed of light-harvesting units as solar collector and oriented ionic hydrophilic channels as reactors and transporters. Based on such architecture, the obtained ASEC (namely ASEC-NJFU-1) can efficiently realize parallel production of freshwater and HO from natural seawater under natural light. The total solar energy conversion (SEC) of ASEC-NJFU-1 reaches up to 8047 kJ m h, corresponding to production rates of freshwater and HO are 3.56 kg m h and 19 mM m h, respectively, which is a record-high value among all photothermal-photocatalytic systems reported to date. Mechanism investigation of combining spectrum and experimental studies indicated that the high SEC performance for ASEC-NJFU-1 was attributed to the presence of plant bioinspired architecture with carbon nanotubes as solar-harvestor and COF-based oriented aerogel as reactors and transporters. Our work thus establishes a novel artificial photosynthesis system for highly efficient solar energy utilization.
高效利用太阳能被广泛认为是解决能源危机和减少对化石燃料依赖的关键解决方案。将光热转换和光化学转换相结合可以有效提高太阳能利用率，但仍然具有挑战性。在此，受绿色植物光合作用系统的启发，我们报道了一种人工太阳能转换器（ASEC），它由作为太阳能收集器的光捕获单元和作为反应器及传输器的定向离子亲水性通道组成。基于这种结构，所获得的ASEC（即ASEC-NJFU-1）能够在自然光下从天然海水中高效并行生产淡水和过氧化氢。ASEC-NJFU-1的总太阳能转换（SEC）高达8047 kJ m⁻² h⁻¹，对应的淡水和过氧化氢生产率分别为3.56 kg m⁻² h⁻¹和19 mM m⁻² h⁻¹，这是迄今为止报道的所有光热-光催化系统中的最高纪录值。结合光谱和实验研究的机理研究表明，ASEC-NJFU-1的高SEC性能归因于存在以碳纳米管为太阳能捕获器、基于共价有机框架的定向气凝胶为反应器和传输器的植物仿生结构。因此，我们的工作建立了一种用于高效太阳能利用的新型人工光合作用系统。
