Biomimetic photothermal fabric from upcycled T/S waste for solar steam and thermoelectric co-generation

Freshwater scarcity and the high energy demand of conventional desalination technologies call for innovative and sustainable water purification strategies. Herein, we report a multifunctional, plant-transpiration-inspired photothermal fabric evaporator engineered from upcycled polyester/spandex (T/S) textile waste. Through a two-step hydrothermal–spray-coating strategy, a hierarchical asymmetric architecture is constructed: cobalt nanoneedles on the bottom layer act as root-like channels for rapid capillary pumping, the porous T/S matrix mediates intermediate water transport, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) decorated urchin-like microspheres on the top layer emulate leaf stomata for broadband photothermal harvesting and efficient interfacial evaporation. The optimized composite (CANT/S-30) delivers a high evaporation rate of 2.12 kg m −2  h −1 under one sun (82.1 % efficiency), while simultaneously generating a thermoelectric power density of 0.823 mW m −2 . In addition, the release of Co 2+ ions endowed the fabric with intrinsic antibacterial activity with >99 % bactericidal efficiency. The evaporator effectively desalinates seawater and removes organic dyes, and operates stably under outdoor solar conditions. By valorizing ubiquitous T/S waste into high-performance photothermal fabrics, this work establishes a sustainable pathway toward scalable solar desalination and distributed clean energy generation, bridging environmental remediation and circular-economy-driven textile upcycling.