Experimental investigation of 3D toilet paper-based carbon fiber for excellent solar-assisted steam generation performance

As a promising technology, interfacial solar steam technology has been widely recognized as an effective way to solve the shortage of energy and water, especially in remote areas. Whole roll of toilet paper (TP) is composed of well orderly layer-by-layer paper, which consisted by cellulose fiber. Here, a 3D solar steam generator, which is prepared by carbonized TP with the help of high-temperature carbonization, and NaOH activated under inert atmosphere is firstly demonstrated with excellent freshwater production capacity. Thanks to the good ordered layered structure, which consisted by porous carbon fiber, the evaporation speed of obtained evaporator is up to 3.37 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun (1000 W m−2) in laboratory, and the average value of 20.4 ± 2.98 kg m−2 day−1 in a 20 consecutive days outdoor experiment for treatment of stimulate seawater, respectively. The demonstrated 3D evaporator for per square meter can meet the drinking water demand of more than 10 people. This work not only provides an environmentally friendly, low-cost, easy-to-industrialize preparation for solar assistance interfacial evaporator, but also opens a promising approach for utilizing unique structure of commercialized available artificial materials and technologies to produce fresh water from seawater.