Turning dead leaves into an active multifunctional material as evaporator, photocatalyst, and bioplastic

Fang, Siyuan; Lyu, Xingyi; Tong, Tian; Lim, Aniqa Ibnat; Li, Tao; Bao, Jiming; Hu, Yun Hang

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36783-8

Turning dead leaves into an active multifunctional material as evaporator, photocatalyst, and bioplastic

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 23:00:00 EST 2023 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36783-8· OSTI ID:2470180

^[1]; Lyu, Xingyi ^[2]; Tong, Tian ^[3]; Lim, Aniqa Ibnat ^[3]; ^[4]; Bao, Jiming ^[3]; ^[1]

Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States)
Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States)
Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Large numbers of leaves fall on the earth each autumn. The current treatments of dead leaves mainly involve completely destroying the biocomponents, which causes considerable energy consumption and environmental issues. It remains a challenge to convert waste leaves into useful materials without breaking down their biocomponents. Here, we turn red maple dead leaves into an active three-component multifunctional material by exploiting the role of whewellite biomineral for binding lignin and cellulose. Owing to its intense optical absorption spanning the full solar spectrum and the heterogeneous architecture for effective charge separation, films of this material show high performance in solar water evaporation, photocatalytic hydrogen production, and photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics. Furthermore, it also acts as a bioplastic with high mechanical strength, high-temperature tolerance, and biodegradable features. These findings pave the way for the efficient utilization of waste biomass and innovations of advanced materials.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 2470180

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Vol. 14; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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