Dynamic water gating facilitated the formation of micro-nano water films for rapid solar-driven evaporation

Abstract

Interfacial solar evaporators have attracted increasing attention recently. Traditional photothermal absorbers typically rely on capillary wicking for continuous water supply, often resulting in water filling the entire porous structure and thus causing unnecessary parasitic heat loss. The formation of the micro-nano water films in the evaporation materials enabled rapid solar-driven water evaporation owing to the reduced evaporation entropy, larger evaporation area, and minimized heat loss.