Versatile PVA/CS/CuO aerogel with superior hydrophilic and mechanical properties towards efficient solar steam generation

In recent years, pursuing a high evaporation rate of solar steam generation (SSG) has been the focus of research for relieving the freshwater shortage. Scientists struggled to find perfect photothermal materials while the importance of substrate during the steam generation was often overlooked. Therefore, in this work, an aerogel substrate composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan (CS) has been designed for solar steam generation. The...