Electroless plating method prepared hierarchical structure of nickel black membrane for solar-driven interfacial evaporation

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation technology has attracted significant attention because of its ability to concentrate thermal energy on the evaporation surface to minimize the heat loss. As a key component in the process of interfacial evaporation, the structure of the photothermal conversion membrane is one of the important factors influencing interfacial evaporation performance. Herein, a hierarchical nickel black membrane (H-Ni) was prepared by electroless plating for solar-driven interfacial evaporation. A layer of triangular nickel black particles was grown on the surface of the Ni foam skeleton, which enhances the absorption (93.87 %) through the light-trapping effect. The evaporation rate of H-Ni membrane achieved to 1.27 kg m −2 h −1 with a solar-vapor conversion efficiency of 80.22 % under 1 kW m −2 solar irradiation. This work provides a novel design of a hierarchical structure via a convenient way, which is conductive to promoting the widespread application of solar water treatment technology.