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.

Through one-step pyrolysis, non-noble-metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts were constructed from ferric trichloride, melamine, and graphene nanoribbon@carbon nanotube (GNR@CNT), in which a portion of the multiwall carbon nanotube is unwrapped/unzipped radially, and thus graphene nanoribbon is exposed. In this study, Fe-N/GNR@CNT materials were used as an air-cathode electrocatalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the first time. The Fe-N/C shows similar power generation ability to commercial Pt/C, and its electron transfer number is 3.57, indicating that the ORR process primarily occurs with 4-electron. Fe species, pyridinic-N, graphitic-N, and oxygen-containing groups existing in GNR@CNT frameworks are likely to endow the electrocatalysts with good ORR performance, suggesting that a GNR@CNT-based carbon supporter would be a good candidate for the non-precious metal catalyst to replace Pt-based precious metal.