Solar energy-facilitated materials are promising to solve energy problems by converting clean solar energy to thermal energy. However, heat loss of photothermal materials still limits the photothermal conversion phenomenon. Herein, we designed bio-inspired hollow carbon microtubes (HCMTs) by one-step carbonization of renewable cotton fibers, which can avoid the complex preparation procedures of the template method. Similar to polar bears, the hollow construction can efficiently reduce heat loss, which improves the utilization of light and photothermal property. The HCMTs can be applied on a variety of substrates to obtain multifunctional photothermal protective coatings. The temperature of the coating can rapidly warm up to 97.7 °C under 1 kW/m2 sun irradiation. In addition, the coatings show excellent superhydrophobic property (CA of 161.5 ± 0.9°), which can prevent the adhesion of the contaminant and maintain the long-time photothermal property of the surface. Also, the coating is able to withstand sandpaper abrasion, repeat tape-peeling, and tribological friction without losing superhydrophobic properties, indicating remarkable mechanical stability. Furthermore, the coating can withstand high-temperature calcination (400 °C), long-time UV radiation, and corrosive liquid erosion, which exhibits prominent chemical stability. More importantly, the combination of active deicing and passive anti-icing of the coating can effectively prevent the formation and accumulation of ice on the surface. The outstanding environmental adaptability can greatly extend its lifespan and meet the long-term service conditions.
Keywords: bio-inspired hollow carbon microtubes; heat loss; photothermal protective coatings; renewable materials; self-cleaning.