Solar Water Evaporation Toward Water Purification and Beyond

Abstract

With the pressing global energy and environmental issues, solar water evaporation (SWE), which generates vapor using solar energy, emerges as a promising and sustainable approach, because of its diverse applications. Developing thermal- and water-management strategies through material and structural designs with novel functionalities has been demonstrated for improved performance of SWE-based systems. This Review summarizes the recent progress of SWE and its potential applications, ranging from water purification, to electricity generation, to steam sterilization, to evaporative cooling. Specifically, rational design principles of solar water evaporators are described from the aspect of energy management for high SWE rates. The material and system designs of the SWE-based water- and energy-related system are also discussed. Finally, we emphasize key challenges and opportunities both in fundamental research and practical applications for the future development of this promising technology.

Repurposing face mask waste to construct floating photothermal evaporator for autonomous solar ocean farming

“…Aside from the environmental concerns induced by disposable FM, water scarcity is another enormous challenge across the globe as the global demand of clean water keeps increasing dramatically 10 . Solar thermal desalination, which particularly occurs at the seawater/air interface by photothermally converting solar energy into steam generation, has drawn widespread attention as an emerging clean water production technology to mitigate water scarcity 11–17 . Solar absorbing materials positioning at the interface therefore play a critical role in the photothermal conversion process.…”

Solar Selective Absorber for Emerging Sustainable Applications

“…Based on this, this section mainly summarizes several strategies for application of SSAs to improve the efficiency of solar desalination. [ 13,62–65 ]…”

“…Based on this, this section mainly summarizes several strategies for application of SSAs to improve the efficiency of solar desalination. [13,[62][63][64][65] Contact Type: Interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) is an efficient distillation strategy that uses a self-floating solar absorber to generate vapor at the water-air interface. [43] By employing this strategy, the heat is locally confined in the solar absorber.…”

Recent developments of hydrogel based solar water purification technology

“…122,128,158 Besides, the application of this technology to purify specific wastewater containing nanoparticles, 139 acidic, 174 alkaline, 94 and low-boiling-point contaminants, 177 and organic dyes 144,156 is also under development. Furthermore, additional functions, such as electricity generation, 51,88,101,125,127,129,138,185 fog collection, 146,186,187 oil/water separation, 147 water disinfection, 184 sensing, 58 and photo degradability, 65,80,188 have also been integrated into solar water purification.…”