Haifeng Xu

Due to their almost zero relative hydrogen atom adsorption-free energy, MoS₂-based materials have received substantial study. However, their poor electronic conductivity and limited number of catalytic active sites hinder their widespread use in hydrogen evolution reactions. On the other hand, metal clusters offer numerous active sites. In this study, by loading Ni metal clusters on MoS₂ and combining them with the better electrical conductivity of graphene, the overpotential of the hydrogen evolution reaction was reduced from 165 mV to 92 mV at 10 mA·cm⁻². This demonstrates that a successful method for effectively designing water decomposition is the use of synergistic interactions resulting from interfacial electron transfer between MoS₂ and Ni metal clusters.

The shortage of water resources has always been one of the most difficult problems that perplexes humanity. Solar steam generation (SSG) has been a new non-polluting and low-cost water purification method in recent years. However, the high cost of traditional photothermal conversion materials and the low efficiency of photothermal conversion has restricted the large-scale application of SSG technology. In this work, composite materials with Fe₃O₄ nanospheres attached to MoS₂ nanosheets were synthesized, which increased the absorbance and specific surface area of the composite materials, reduced the sunlight reflection, and increased the photothermal conversion efficiency. During the experiment, the composite material was evenly coated on cotton. The strong water absorption of cotton ensured that the water could be transported sufficiently to the surface for evaporation. Under one sun irradiation intensity, the evaporation rate of the sample synthesized in this work reached 1.42 kg m⁻² h⁻¹; the evaporation efficiency is 89.18%. In addition, the surface temperature of the sample can reach 41.6 °C, which has far exceeded most photothermal conversion materials. Furthermore, the use of this composite material as an SSG device for seawater desalination and sewage purification can remove more than 98% of salt ions in seawater, and the removal rate of heavy metal ions in sewage is close to 100%, with a good seawater desalination capacity and sewage purification capacity. This work provides a new idea for the application of composite materials in the field of seawater desalination and sewage purification.

Solar steam generation that can directly harness solar energy to produce clean water from undrinkable water resources offers great application prospects in water purification systems. An open question remains though on how to improve the evaporation efficiency by choosing and optimizing a suitable candidate material system. Herein, we demonstrate experimentally that interface regulation of amorphous boron and cotton pads brings about high performance for solar steam generation. In this study, amorphous boron after surface treatment was well combined with cotton sheets, realizing a stable interfacial photothermal evaporation structure. Besides, the benefits from the superabsorbent cotton pads and the structure, provides an unobstructed water transport channel, which is conducive to the generation and circulation of vapor. Taking advantage of the above synergies, the system achieved a high evaporation rate of 2.43 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1 kW m⁻² solar illumination. The amorphous boron interfacial heating evaporator achieved a high energy efficiency of 95.3% under 1 sun irradiation. We anticipate that the results not only demonstrate the effectiveness of interface engineering in solar steam generation design but also provide a facile and cost-effective strategy applicable for water purification.

Solar-driven interface water evaporation is an energy-saving, environmentally friendly, and efficient seawater desalination and wastewater treatment technology. However, some challenges still restrict its further industrial development, such as its complex preparation, heavy metal pollution, and insufficient energy utilization. In this study, a photothermal layer based on flower-shaped carbon nanoparticles is presented for highly efficient solar-driven interface evaporation for water treatment applications. The results show that the surface of the prepared carbon nanomaterials presents a flower-shaped structure with an excellent light absorption capacity and a large specific surface area. Moreover, the C-5.4 (Carbon-5.4) sample has an evaporation rate of 1.87 kg/m²/h and an evaporation efficiency of 87%—far higher than most photothermal materials. In addition, carbon nanomaterials have an excellent ion scavenging capacity, dye purification capacity, and outdoor practical performance. This study provides a new solution for the application of carbon nanomaterials in the field of water purification.

Improving the evaporation rate of solar steam generation (SSG) has always been a research hotspot to solve the shortage of water resources. Using cotton, Fe₃O₄, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and diatomite (DM) as raw materials, DM/PVA/Fe₃O₄@cotton composites with both firmness and hydrophilicity were prepared. Fe₃O₄ has a wide range of light absorption characteristics and good photothermal conversion performance, and is an ideal photothermal conversion material. PVA enhances the adhesion between Fe₃O₄, cotton and DM and enhances the hardness of the sample and the internal porous structure. The existence of DM greatly improves the hydrophilicity of the sample, ensuring that the water in the lower layer can be continuously transported to the surface of the sample, and DM makes the surface of the sample rough, which reduces the reflection of sunlight and improves the efficiency of light heat conversion. Under one-sun irradiation, the temperature of the sample surface increases by 52.6 °C, the evaporation rate can reach 1.32 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and the evaporation efficiency is 82.9%. Using this sample as the photothermal conversion layer of the SSG device, the removal rate of salt ions in seawater is more than 98% and the removal rate of heavy metal ions in sewage is close to 100%. This work provides a new idea and design method for SSG in the field of seawater desalination and sewage treatment.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, image editing technology has evolved from relying on software such as Photoshop and GIMP for manual modification to using artificial intelligence technology to achieve intelligent and automated tampering of images. Editing, falsifying, and disseminating digital images have become simple and easy, leading to a crisis of confidence in digital images and reducing their reliability as judicial evidence. Therefore, how to identify falsified images, improve their trustworthiness, and avoid judicial injustice has become a problem that must be overcome in the information age. In this paper, we propose a target detection and adaptive feature analysis in image forensics based on a dual-flow layer CNN model, which can effectively perform image forensics. The results show that our algorithm has a clear theoretical basis, a small operational complexity, and a high detection accuracy.