Ning Wang

Solar evaporators are promising for freshwater generation from seawater and wastewater, but are currently made from fossil‐based materials compromising their sustainable profile. We developed a triple network hydrogel (CTMH) for solar‐driven water purification. The hydrogel combines Fe‐based metal–organic framework nanoparticles (Fe‐MOF NPs) as light‐absorbing components with two bio‐derived polymers: sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and starch. These polymers tailored the pore structure and swelling properties of the cellulose fibers. The hydrogel has a light absorption of 94%. The porosities together with the hydrophilic nature of the hydrogel constituents almost half the water evaporation enthalpy to 1301 J·g⁻¹. Through the synergistic effects, an evaporation rate of 2.55 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ and a photothermal conversion of 92.2% are obtained for the CTMH hydrogel. In addition, the CTMH hydrogel has excellent salt resistance. The abundant hydroxyl groups remove up to 99.9% of methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), and rhodamine B (RhB) dyes by adsorption through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction. Purification efficiency is up to 99% for seawater and wastewater. Therefore, the bio‐based triple network CTMH hydrogel has great potential for seawater desalination and dyeing wastewater purification.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have received widespread attention due to their unique structure and broad application possibilities, but high preparation costs and agglomeration limit their usage. In this article, low‐cost and environmentally friendly cellulose and ZnCl₂ are used to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). Subsequently, multifunctional ZnO/polyacrylonitrile hybrid nanofiber mats (ZnO/PAN@NFMs) with mechanical stability suitable for large‐scale application are prepared via solution blow‐spinning. The synthesized ZnO/PAN@NFMs exhibit higher photodegradation of organic dyes than earlier reported semiconductors and good recycling performance with an organic dye degradation above 94%–98% after five cycles, which is ascribed to fixation of the ZnO NPs in the nanofibers. In addition, the inhibition rate for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus is above 99.9% and the bacteriostatic rate against E. coli remains as high as 99% after 10 cycles. From these properties, the synthesized composite ZnO/PAN@NFMs are promising for wastewater cleaning and antibacterial fabrics.

A robust photocatalytic composite SiC/SiO ₂ nanofiber/carbon nanofiber mat is prepared via blow-spinning followed by calcination in absence of metal catalysts.

Shielding materials are becoming increasingly important, but present materials suffer from either insufficient mechanical stability or limited shielding properties. In this study, 3D flexible copper sulfide (Cu_xS)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber mats are developed via air spinning followed by chemical reaction with copper salt. The Cu_xS/PAN nanofiber mats exhibit an ultra‐lightweight density of 0.044 g cm⁻³ and a thickness of 0.423 mm. Stable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) (29–31 dB) of the Cu_xS/PAN composite is achieved in the frequency range of 500–3000 MHz. EMI SE per unit surface density of 16 655.92 dB cm² g⁻¹ is several orders of magnitude higher than most copper sulfide containing EMI shielding materials reported in literature. In addition, the introduction of the Cu_xS improves the thermal stability and launderability of the PAN mats giving the mats thermal, mechanical, and aqueous stability. Finally, the shielding mechanism of the Cu_xS/PAN nanofiber mats for electromagnetic waves is proposed