Graphene-based materials are frequently highlighted as the candidate for solar steam generation (SSG) because of their advantages such as high solar absorption, tunable structure and low cost. However, graphene itself is not a “perfect” absorber for full solar spectrum and cannot efficiently transport water on its surface due to its intrinsic physicochemical characteristics. Here we designed and synthesized a graphene foam in a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected porous structure with silicon carbide nanoparticles anchored on graphene surfaces. The systematical characterizations confirm that the hybrid structure extends the solar absorption window of graphene in full solar spectrum; and moreover, the in situ environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) experiments suggest the incorporation of SiC nanoparticles on two-dimensional graphene surface improves the condensation and transportation kinetics of water in the foam. As a result, the SSG device based on the graphene-SiC composite demonstrates an improved energy conversion efficiency up to 95% under one sun illumination compared with those of previous reported graphene-based materials. The findings may shed new light on the technologies for solar-energy-water nexus.

基于石墨烯的材料经常被强调为太阳能蒸汽发电（SSG）的候选材料，因为它们具有诸如高太阳能吸收、可调节结构和低成本等优点。然而，石墨烯本身并不是全太阳光谱的“完美”吸收体，由于其固有的物理化学特性，它不能有效地在其表面传输水。在这里，我们设计并合成了一种具有三维 (3D) 互连多孔结构的石墨烯泡沫，碳化硅纳米粒子锚定在石墨烯表面。系统表征证实了混合结构扩展了石墨烯在全太阳光谱中的太阳吸收窗口；而且，原位环境扫描电子显微镜 (ESEM) 实验表明，在二维石墨烯表面上掺入 SiC 纳米粒子可改善泡沫中水的冷凝和传输动力学。因此，与之前报道的石墨烯基材料相比，基于石墨烯-SiC 复合材料的 SSG 器件在一次阳光照射下的能量转换效率提高了 95%。这些发现可能为太阳能-水关系技术提供新的启示。