Abstract
Cokes are inevitably generated during zeolite-catalyzed reactions as deleterious side products that deactivate the catalyst.
In this study, we in-situ converted cokes into carbons within the confined microporous zeolite structures and evaluated
their performances as absorbing materials for solar-driven water evaporation. With a properly chosen zeolite, the cokederived
carbons possessed ordered interconnected pores and tunable compositions. We found that the porous structure
and the oxygen content in as-prepared carbons had important influences on their energy conversion efficiencies. Among
various investigated carbon materials, the carbon derived from the methanol-to-olefins reaction over zeolite Beta gave the
highest conversion efficiency of 72% under simulated sunlight with equivalent solar intensity of 2 suns. This study not only
demonstrates the great potential of traditionally useless cokes for solar thermal applications but also provides new
insights into the design of carbon-based absorbing materials for efficient solar evaporation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 6860-6865 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | J. Mater. Chem. A |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 15 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2017 |