Bioinspired waste corncob-derived evaporator for stable solar evaporation

Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation is a promising and sustainable freshwater collection strategy. However, the preparation of solar evaporators that simultaneously possess excellent salt resistance, evaporation performance and scalability is challenging. Here, inspired by stomas and chloroplast of plant leave, a bionic corncob-derived solar evaporator (1.2 % CuO@ppyCb) loaded with CuO and polypyrrole was designed for efficient desalination. The evaporator achieved average evaporation rates of 2.538, 1.247 and 2.027 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ respectively in deionized water, simulated sewage and 3.5 wt% seawater under one sun irradiation. In a 10-hour outdoor evaporation experiment in 3.5 wt% seawater, the average evaporation rate of this evaporator was as high as 2.712 kg m⁻² h⁻¹. Furthermore, the research has proved that this evaporator has excellent salt resistance. This study represented a new path for the design of solar evaporators, which have excellent evaporation performance in different sea areas around the world and will contribute to solving the global freshwater crisis.