Solar-thermal energy conversion for passive steam generation is attracting a lot of attention as a next-generation eco-friendly and sustainable technology. Tremendous effort has been devoted to produce efficient light-absorbing materials such as metal nanoparticles, semiconductors, MXene, and carbon-based materials. Among the various candidates, silicon (Si) is an excellent light-absorber that has been widely used in solar power generation. However, Si barely absorbs photons that have energy below its bandgap (1.12 eV), which occupies 20% of the entire solar spectrum. Here, we propose a metal-Si hybrid nanowire (NW) structure (plasmonic Si NWs) suitable for overcoming the low absorption limit of Si. The bundle-shaped Si NWs involving plasmonic nanostructures exhibits strong light absorption properties (A_avg > 91%) over the entire solar spectrum (300–2500 nm). The low thermal conductivity of Si NWs enhance heat localization by suppressing the heat dissipation to the surrounding. Owing to the unique optical and thermal properties of the plasmonic Si NW structure, excellent evaporation rates and efficiencies of 1.12 kg m^-2h⁻¹ and 72.8 %, respectively, were obtained under 1-sun illumination (1 kW m⁻²). Thus, the plasmonic Si NWs have the potential to be used in various fields such as solar photothermal desalination, contaminated water purification, and solar thermoelectric power generation.

用于被动蒸汽发电的太阳能-热能转换作为下一代环保和可持续技术引起了广泛关注。已经付出了巨大的努力来生产高效的吸光材料，例如金属纳米颗粒、半导体、MXene 和碳基材料。在各种候选材料中，硅 (Si) 是一种优异的光吸收剂，已广泛用于太阳能发电。然而，Si 几乎不吸收能量低于其带隙 (1.12 eV) 的光子，后者占据了整个太阳光谱的 20%。在这里，我们提出了一种适合克服 Si 的低吸收极限的金属-Si 混合纳米线 (NW) 结构（等离子体 Si NWs）。涉及等离子体纳米结构的束状Si NW表现出强光吸收特性（A _avg > 91%) 覆盖整个太阳光谱 (300–2500 nm)。Si NW的低导热性通过抑制向周围的散热来增强热局部化。由于等离子 Si NW 结构独特的光学和热学特性，在 1 次太阳照射（1 kW m ^-2）下分别获得了 1.12 kg m ^-2 h ^{-1和 72.8% 的优异蒸发速率和效率。}因此，等离子体硅纳米线具有在太阳能光热脱盐、污染水净化和太阳能热电发电等各个领域的应用潜力。