A bioinspired structure of an artificial mushroom, made of the common polyvinyl alcohol sponge coated with charcoal, is fabricated, with high efficiency in generating cold water steam of ≈73% under 1 sun illumination, due to very high light absorption, efficient water supply, and low heat loss. In addition, the structure is very inexpensive, and thus ideal for applications in portable cold (boil-free) steam generators for water purification and desalination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo stable crystalline hydrazone-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) (Bth-Dha and Bth-Dma) containing functional O,N,O'-chelating sites have been designed and successfully synthesized by the Schiff-base condensation reactions between benzene-1,3,5-tricarbohydrazide (Bth) and 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalaldehyde (Dha) or 2,5-dimethoxyterephthal-aldehyde (Dma), respectively. Bth-Dma exhibits strong fluorescence in the solid state and in an aqueous dispersion, while no fluorescence can be observed for Bth-Dha. Interestingly, the as-synthesized Bth-Dma can be used as a turn-off fluorescence sensor for the Fe(III) ion in aqueous solution with outstanding selectivity and sensitivity.
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