Carbon Nanofoams have been shown to have great application as solar steam generators. They possess excellent light absorption, good thermal stability, low density, and low thermal conductivity, all factors important to solar generators. In experiments done, carbon nanofoams showed superior solar photo-thermal performance with an evaporation rate of 1.68 kg m−2 h−1 achieved under 1 sun irradiation.
Additionally, carbon nanofoams have also been used to create extremely efficient aerosol filters. Using cellulose nanofibers collected from recycled milk jugs, researchers were able to develop a carbon nanofoam that achieved a very high filtration efficacy (>99.5%) in tests run with 0.7 wt% nanofoam sample for particles smaller than 360 nm. This efficiency value even meets the standard requirements of the N95 respirator face masks. The structure of the nanofoam filter gives it an advantage in performance over normal filters when dealing with high particle bearing