Enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency by loading polypyrrole nanoparticles on the surface of boron nitride

In this work, we obtained a composite material (h-BN/PPy) show good dispersion stability and photothermal conversion ability in glycol–water. Therefore, the composites can be applied to the photothermal conversion of nanofluids to improve the photothermal conversion efficiency. In addition, we tried to prepare hybrid membrane with photothermal conversion properties. This hybrid membrane present promising applications in desalination field. • We developed a kind of composites with high photothermal conversion ability. • We loaded more PPy nanoparticles on the surface of h-BN. • The composites can be applied to nanofluids and desalination. The light harvesting capacity and thermal conductivity properties of photothermal materials play a vital role in the photothermal conversion. However, most materials do not possess both of these characteristics simultaneously or efficiently. Here, we design a composite material with both light harvesting capacity and thermal conductivity properties, which polypyrrole is loaded on the surface of boron nitride to form h-BN/PPy composites. The photothermal conversion efficiency can reach 82.84% when the concentration is 0.05 wt%. While combining this composite with PVA-1799 can form a hybrid membrane, which can still exhibits high photothermal conversion performance.