Ultrathin, Unsinkable, Janus-Faced Solar-Thermal Interfacial Evaporator for High-Throughput Seawater Distillation and Solar-Water Production.

ABSTRACT: Solar-thermal distillation offers immense and hitherto untapped potential for energy-efficient, sustainable freshwater production. However, critical limitations in material and system design continue to hinder water-evaporation rate (R_w) and specific water productivity (SWP), posing significant roadblocks for scalable and stable solar desalination. An ultrathin, porosity-tuned high internal phase emulsion polymer (polyHIPE, PH) scaffold is integrated with nanostructured hard-carbon florets (NCF) as a black-body absorber to create the thinnest interfacial evaporator, delivering best-in-class solar-thermal energy conversion (η-STC = 84%), rapid R_w (6.5 kg m^-2 h^-1), and efficient SWP of 18 L m^-2 day^-1 from seawater. The Janus-f

SUBMITTER: Villan MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12866775 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature