Recent strategies for constructing efficient interfacial solar evaporation systems

Abstract

Interfacial solar evaporation (ISE) is a promising technology to relieve worldwide freshwater shortages owing to its high energy conversion efficiency and environmentally sustainable potential. So far, many innovative materials and evaporators have been proposed and applied in ISE to enable highly controllable and efficient solar-to-thermal energy conversion. With rational design, solar evaporators can achieve excellent energy management for lowering energy loss, harvesting extra energy, and efficiently utilizing energy in the system to improve freshwater production. Beyond that, a strategy of reducing water vaporization enthalpy by introducing molecular engineering for water-state regulation has also been demonstrated as an effective approach to boost ISE. Based on these, this article discusses the energy nexus in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) evaporators separately and reviews the strategies for design and fabrication of highly efficient ISE systems. The summarized work offers significant perspectives for guiding the future design of ISE systems with efficient energy management, which pave pathways for practical applications.