Metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon nanostructure photothermal materials have attracted tremendous attention, and have shown remarkable potential in the application of solar steam generation, due to their excellent light absorption properties, high chemical stability, and considerable photothermal conversion efficiency. In this paper, Cu-MOF derived carbon materials with regulable porous structures were prepared for the photothermal conversion application. It was found that the sample obtained at 500 °C shows the highest photothermal conversion efficiency as high as 64.42%. Besides, an efficient evaporator using polydimethylsiloxane as a matrix achieves an evaporation rate of 1.97 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and a conversion efficiency of ca. 113.4% under one sun illumination. The effects of the compositions and structures of the materials on the photothermal conversion efficiency are also investigated, and the free radical concentration and the pore structures show a strong correlation with photothermal conversion efficiency.

Cellulose is an important precursor for hard carbon for use in sodium-ion battery anodes, owing to its low cost and abundant resource. However, how to modulate the structure of cellulose-based carbon materials which possesses increased low-voltage plateau Na-storage capacity is still a great challenge. Herein, we select a kind of cellulose with high polymerization degree and low crystallinity as the carbon source. Pre-oxidation was employed to cleave the cellulose glycosidic bond and induce cross-linking of the molecular chains. The oxidative crosslinking process of cellulose produces more CO and retains more C–O. During pyrolysis, narrower and longer graphite microcrystalline structures are generated, resulting in the formation of larger closed pores. The hard carbon samples prepared from the precursor with the optimal oxygen functionality content exhibit the lowest specific surface area (8.7 m² g⁻¹) and the highest closed pore volume. After optimization, there is a substantial increase in the plateau capacity, and excellent sodium storage performance is achieved. The reversible capacity achieves an impressive value of 426.8 mA h g⁻¹, with the plateau capacity accounting for 72.1% and reaching 307.5 mA h g⁻¹. This research provides valuable insights into the rational design of hard carbon anodes with a substantial plateau capacity in the field of sodium-ion batteries.

Chitosan, a semi-crystalline biomolecule, has attracted wide attention due to its high synthesis flexibility. In this study, to improve the mechanical properties of chitosan aerogels (CSAs), graphene oxide (GO) was extracted and introduced into chitosan aerogels as fillers. The porous CSAs/GO composite aerogels were fabricated by an environmentally friendly freeze-drying process with different GO contents (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, wt.%). The characteristics of the CSAs/GO were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical measurements and mercury porosimeter. The crystallinity of samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The mechanism of the effect of graphene oxide on chitosan was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the microstructure of the samples is developed in the network structure. The porosity of CSAs/GO aerogels is as high as 87.6%, and the tensile strength of the films increased from 6.60 MPa to 10.56 MPa with the recombination of graphene oxide. The crystallinity (CrI) of composite aerogels increased from 27% to 81%, which indicates that graphene oxide improves the mechanical properties of chitosan by chemical crosslinking.