Here, commercial carbon black (CB) grades are characterized in detail to determine the link between their physicochemical properties and solar steam generation performance. The CB nanoparticles used here have surface mean primary particle diameters of 11–406 nm resulting in specific surface areas of 8–300 m²/g. Thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction reveal that fine CB nanoparticles form large agglomerates, have a more disordered nanostructure and larger organic carbon content than coarse CB grades. Most importantly, UV–vis spectroscopy and Mie theory show that increasing the particle size from 14 to 406 nm reduces the light absorption of CB dispersed in water up to 86%. So, the water evaporation flux of suspensions containing 11–14 nm CB nanoparticles is up to 25% larger than that obtained for suspensions of 406 nm particles. Thus, good control of particle size is essential to optimize the solar steam generation enabled by CB.

中文翻译：

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炭黑实现太阳能蒸汽生成：颗粒大小和纳米结构的影响


在这里，对商业炭黑 （CB） 等级进行了详细表征，以确定其物理化学性质与太阳能蒸汽发生性能之间的联系。这里使用的 CB 纳米颗粒的表面平均初级颗粒直径为 11-406 nm，比表面积为 8-300 m²/g。热重分析、动态光散射、拉曼光谱和 X 射线衍射表明，与粗 CB 等级相比，细小的 CB 纳米颗粒形成大团聚体，具有更无序的纳米结构和更大的有机碳含量。最重要的是，紫外-可见光谱和 Mie 理论表明，将粒径从 14 nm 增加到 406 nm 可使分散在水中的 CB 的光吸收降低高达 86%。因此，含有 11-14 nm CB 纳米颗粒的悬浮液的水分蒸发通量比 406 nm 颗粒的悬浮液高 25%。因此，对颗粒大小的良好控制对于优化 CB 实现的太阳能蒸汽产生至关重要。