Optimized preparation of alginate/nanocellulose/polypyrrole composite hydrogel via in-situ polymerization for high-efficiency solar desalination and wastewater purification.

In the field of solar steam generation, hydrogels with interfacial evaporation configurations stand as a promising candidate for solar evaporators. Hydrogel-based photothermal materials provide excellent hydration channels for supplying water to an evaporative layer due to their porous structure and hydrophilic nature. This work proposed a facile and in-situ fabrication of sodium alginate hydrogel incorporated with cellulose nanocrystals and polypyrrole as an effective photothermal material.