Since solar energy is the ultimate energy resource and a significant amount of global energy utilization goes through heat, there have been persistent efforts for centuries to develop devices and systems for solar-thermal conversion. Most recently, interfacial solar vapor generation, as an emerging concept of solar-thermal conversion, has gained significant attention for its great potentials in various fields such as desalination, sterilization, catalysis, etc. With the advances of rationally designed materials and structures and photon and thermal management at the nanoscale, interfacial solar vapor generation has demonstrated both thermodynamic and kinetical advantages over conventional strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSteam generation using solar energy provides the basis for many sustainable desalination, sanitization, and process heating technologies. Recently, interest has arisen for low-cost floating structures that absorb solar radiation and transfer energy to water via thermal conduction, driving evaporation. However, contact between water and the structure leads to fouling and pins the vapour temperature near the boiling point.
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