Selective absorber films, with unique foamed nanostructure, are firstly obtained by hydrothermal method on stainless steel, without using any porogen.
The films, which comprise large numbers of nanoparticle agglomerates and nanopores, display a solar absorbance of 0.92 and a thermal emittance of 0.12.
The films prove benign thermal stability and performance at 450 °C, without crackings within entire structure.
The strategy is especially simple, pollution-free, low-cost and novel.