Vertically oriented Fe-doping carbon nanosheets for synergistic solar-driven and photo-fenton purification of sewage

The solar-driven evaporation of water is deemed as the most promising technology for producing freshwater. However, the complex recalcitrant organic pollutants will contaminate and even shorten the life time of the photothermal materials. Herein, the vertically aligned Fe-doping carbon nanosheets (Fe/CNSs) aerogel were constructed to produce fresh-water from sewage. The porous vertically oriented structure was built by using melem as carbon resource via the ice-templating method. The carbon nanosheets were grown in-situ on the vertically aligned skeletons of melem under the catalysis of ferrocene. The obtained Fe/CNSs composites exhibit excellent hydrophilicity and sunlight absorption as high as 97.3%, resulting in an outstanding solar evaporation efficiency of 91.7% and completely degradation of organic pollutants (methylene blue, methyl orange, tetracycline hydrochloride and bisphenol A) under 1 sun irradiation (1 kW m −2 ) synergistically. The Fe atoms doped in the carbon nanosheets, which accelerate the generation and transportation of radicals via the photo-Fenton, leading to a rapid degradation efficiency and address the issue of Fe recycling. This work provides a promising strategy for treating the wastewater containing refractory pollutants, such as industrial, dyeing and pharmaceutical wastewaters.