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Vol. 18 (2026)

Nano-Confined Solar-Thermal Water Purification Boosted by Physical Field Disturbance Coupled with Ultrafast Non-Radical Advanced Oxidation Process

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02249-x
Fan‑Zhen Jiao
State Key Laboratory of Organic−Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Xiaoyang Fang
State Key Laboratory of Organic−Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Sheng‑Xing Hou
State Key Laboratory of Organic−Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Zhi‑Hao Wang
Center for Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Wenbo You
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
Zhenzhong Yang
Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China
Zhong‑Zhen Yu
Center for Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China
Jin Qu
State Key Laboratory of Organic−Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Jin Qu

qujin@buct.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 424

Abstract

Solar interfacial evaporation has undergone rapid development in recent years, yet its overall performance has reached a plateau due to limited advances in solar-thermal materials. Herein, we propose a synergistic nano-confinement and physical-field–modulation strategy that enables concurrent acceleration of solar-driven evaporation of water and on-site remediation of organic pollutants. Implemented in hollow mesoporous carbon nanocages integrated with Fe–N4 catalytic sites and inner wall plasmonic Au nanoparticles, the system couples mesoporous confinement with localized thermal and pressure perturbations to transform bulk water into thermodynamically activated intermediate states and substantially reduce the effective vaporization enthalpy. This integrated framework delivers high evaporation rates of 2.56 kg m−2 h−1 in planar devices and 6.84 kg m−2 h−1 in 3D architectures under one-sun irradiation, with a kinetic enhanced Hertz–Knudsen–Schrage–derived evaporation coefficient. Simultaneously, the Fe–N4 sites enable non-radical peroxymonosulfate activation for ultrafast degradation of bisphenol A, achieving a rate of 182.5 L g−1 min−1. This work establishes an ingenious strategy for coupling water-state regulation and catalytic pollutant degradation to break the performance bottleneck of solar-thermal purification.


Highlights:
1 Synergistic nano-confinement and physical field modulation thermodynamically activate water and accelerate solar-driven evaporation, achieving high rates up to 6.84 kg m−2 h−1 under one-sun irradiation.
2 The hollow nanocage architecture with highly accessible Fe–N4 sites enables non-radical peroxymonosulfate activation, delivering ultrafast bisphenol A degradation with a mass-normalized rate constant of 182.5 L g−1 min−1.
3 Concurrent acceleration of solar-driven evaporation of water and on-site remediation of organic pollutants is achieved.

Keywords

Solar-thermal water evaporation Non-radical advanced oxidation process Physical field disturbance Electron transfer pathway Nano-confinement effect
Jiao, Fan‑Zhen, Xiaoyang Fang, Sheng‑Xing Hou, Zhi‑Hao Wang, Wenbo You, Zhenzhong Yang, Zhong‑Zhen Yu, and Jin Qu. 2026. “Nano-Confined Solar-Thermal Water Purification Boosted by Physical Field Disturbance Coupled With Ultrafast Non-Radical Advanced Oxidation Process”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (July):424. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02249-x.
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