Fig 1

Different preparation methods of graphene 3D structure materials. (a) Photograph of a piece of 3DG was prepared by self-assembly method standing on a dandelion, Adapted with permission from Ref. 42. Copyright 2012, Wiley-VCH; (b) Cartoonic presentation of 3DG preparation with Template method, Adapted with permission from Ref. 52. Copyright 2014, The Royal Society of Chemistry; (c) Schematic illustration of 3DG formation with CVD method. Adapted with permission from Ref. 56, Copyright 2016, American Chemical Society; (d) Schematic illustration of 3D-print, Adapted with permission from Ref. 64, Copyright 2015, Nature Publishing Group; (e) Photographs of a large-size and structure-intact GAB with an area of about 1 m2; Adapted with permission from Ref. 76, Copyright 2017, American Chemical Society; (f) Schemes of the 3D graphene preparation process on active metal substrate and on the arbitrary conductive target supported by active metal. Adapted with permission from Ref. 44. Copyright 2013, Nature Publishing Group."

Fig 2

Application of different graphene 3D structure materials in photothermal conversion. (a) and (b) Pure graphene and it's evaporation rate, Adapted with permission from Ref. 83, Copy right 2018, Elsevier Ltd.; (c) and (d) Graphene-MoS22 composite and its evaporation rate; Adapted with permission from Ref. 90, Copyright 2019, The Royal Society of Chemistry; (e) and (f) Garphene-PVA composite and its evaporation rate; Adapted with permission from Ref. 92, Copyright 2018, The Royal Society of Chemistry; (g) Schematic illustration depicting the fabrication of wood-GO composite and setup for solar steam generation using the bilayered composite structure; Adapted with permission from Ref. 100, Copyright 2017, American Chemical Society; (h) and (I) Schematic diagrams of RGO-silk-fabric as a light-absorbing material for generating steam; Instantaneous water evaporation rates of the four different systems. Adapted with permission from Ref. 102, Copyright 2018, The Royal Society of Chemistry."

Fig 3

3D-graphene photo-thermal water treatment. (a) Scheme of the lab made solar still. (b)The concentrations of five primary ions in seawater sample before (original) and after solar thermal purification. (c, d) The concentrations of ions in the actual lake water before (original) and after purification. (e, f) The photographs of agar plates inoculated with actual seawater (East Sea) before (original) and after purification under solar illumination of 1sun, respectively. (g, h) The photographs of agar plates inoculated with lake water from Beijing before (original) and after purification under solar illumination of 1 sun, respectively, Adapted with permission from Ref. 83, Copyright 2018, Elsevier Ltd.; (i)The mass change t in rGO foam and pure water under solar illumination of 1 sun. Adapted with permission from Ref. 82, Copyright 2019, Wiley-VCH; (j) Sewage treatment performance by 3DG under solar illumination. The contaminated water has a strong absorption peak around 465 or 663 nm due to the methylorange (MO) or methyleneblue (MB) absorption, respectively. After the solar treatment, the water contained no MO or MB, as evidenced by the near zero optical absorbance, showing an excellent sewage treatment performance. Adapted with permission from Ref. 80. Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society."

Table 1

Summary of the performance of 3DG for water evaporation in recent year."