Interfacial-heating solar desalination of high-salinity brine: Recent progress on salt management and water production

Interfacial-heating solar desalination (IHSD), a sustainable and efficient method of harnessing solar energy to generate clean water, will contribute a meaningful technology to the ongoing freshwater scarcity. However, the salt management toward highly salinity brine (>10 wt%) and water production are still the bottlenecks of this technology. With the rapid development of this important field, many new strategies and designs have been developed most recently. Nevertheless, a comprehensive overview of the important progress on salt management of high-salinity brine and enhanced water production is yet lacking. In this review, we focus on the interfacial-heating solar desalination of high-salinity brine (>10 wt%) and the drinking water production. The representative strategies for salt management during solar desalination of high-salinity brine are highlighted and categorized into seven categories. The principles, comparative analysis and comparison for these different strategies are discussed. Subsequently, how to optimize the evaporator and condenser to boost water production is summarized. Finally, the challenges and future research opportunities for interfacial-heating solar desalination are described and proposed.