The dispersion of Au nanorods decorated on graphene oxide nanosheets for solar steam generation

Plasmonic metal/graphene oxide hybrid structures driven by either solar light or laser exhibit strong absorption and multiple functions to realize photothermal therapy, surface enhancement Raman scattering , and solar steam generation. We decorated graphene oxide (GO) by gold nanorods , forming a plasmonic nanofluid with strong optical absorption and enhanced solar steam generation performance. GO nanosheets were modified by using glucose as an environment-friendly ligand and stabilizer in the Au-GO dispersion. The Au-GO dispersions showed an increased absorption in a broad band reaching near infrared region. Owing to the coupling effects between Au NRs and GO NSs, and 2D platform for localized heating, water evaporation can be accelerated by Au-GO dispersions. The solar steam generation efficiency reached 84.1% under 1 kW m −2 illumination, about 20% enhancement compared with GO dispersion alone. This work shows the feasibility of the approach with functionalized nanofluids for efficient solar energy harvesting and utilization.