A Self‐Floating, Self‐Insulating, and Janus Evaporator Inspired by Victoria Amazonica

Abstract

Solar‐powered photothermal evaporators offer a sustainable approach for freshwater extraction. Nevertheless, their practical application is hindered by the difficulties in integrating thermal insulation, self‐flotation, and efficient water transport within a single device. Inspired by the structure of Victoria Amazonica, a fiber‐based solar steam evaporator is developed, featuring self‐floating, self‐insulating, and unidirectional water‐transfer. The design employs a Janus nonwoven (JN), fabricated by precisely adjusting the weight ratio of a hydrophilic viscose (VIS) fiber web and a hydrophobic polypropylene/polyethylene (PP/PE) core‐sheath fiber web, followed by a needle punching process to bond them together. The resulting high fluffiness and vertically aligned fiber pillars form continuous water channels across the JN thickness. This structure enables ultralow thermal conductivity (< 0.05 W mK−1), minimal conductive heat loss (0.6%), sustained water supply, and rapid salt ion diffusion, leading to a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 90.8%. More attractively, the evaporator maintains permanent buoyancy on seawater, since its density (1.06 g cm−3) is even lower than that of seawater (1.07 g cm−3). By integrating biomimetic structural engineering with scalable and affordable fabrication, this work may provide a competitive pathway to tackling global freshwater scarcity while enhancing the design of high‐performance solar desalination systems.