Water-Stable Al3Ni4 Polynuclear Heterometallic Compound for Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion

In this paper, a polynuclear heterometallic compound (H3O)[Al3Ni4(OH)6(MBA-NO2)6(H2O)6] (Al3Ni4, H2MBA-NO2 = 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-nitrobenzoic acid) with a seven-star disk metal core has been synthesized by the solvothermal method. Al3Ni4 has good stability in water and several organic solvents, and its solid powder shows a good photothermal effect under 980 nm laser irradiation, and the temperature can reach 138.8 °C within 100 s under 1.0 W cm–2 power irradiation. Considering its good photothermal effect, water evaporation of Al3Ni4 was measured. It can be further used as a photothermal material in seawater evaporation.