Magnetic photothermal material based on hollow tubular biomass fiber for solar steam generation

Solar steam generation (SSG) is a sustainable water purification technology that has great application in addressing the problem of global water scarcity. Herein, a kind of magnetic photothermal materials (PMs) were prepared by Fe3O4 co-precipitation with the hollow tubular fiber of Cirsium setosum as support (named CSFPT). The natural hollow tubular structure gives CSFPT excellent water-gas transmission capacity and salt resistance. Under 1 kW m−2 illumination, the evaporation rate is 1.47 kg m−2 h−1. No crystallization was found on the surface of the CSFPT during 30 days of soaking in 20% NaCl. The magnetic ions in CSFPT make it easy to recycle and precise placement and increase the ability to purify heavy metal wastewater. The purification efficiency of heavy metal ions exceeds 99.5%. The CSFPT has the advantages of a simple preparation method, strong scalability, low cost, recyclability, precise placement, and so on. It is expected to become a potential candidate material for the practical application of SSG.