Spatial Patterned Interfacial Solar Evaporators toward Recovering Heat Loss

The novel freshwater production technology, such as interface solar-steam conversion (ISSC) technology, has advanced so rapidly recently, where its energy capture and conversion process was localized at the air–water interface so as to achieve high efficiency of energy utilization and transformation. However, when enlarging the evaporation surface and application scale, the inevitably increased heat loss and reduced conversion efficiency put it in a dilemma: should we exploit innovative steamer constructs for practical applications. In order to effectively mitigate heat loss from the evaporator to the surrounding environment, a series of spatial pattern evaporators (SPEs) are specifically designed in this article. By recovering the energy of radiation and convection heat loss, SPEs achieved low heat loss in an open evaporator through unequal height auxiliary heat exchange platforms. In an open environment, it achieves a maximum evaporation rate of 1.68 kg m–2 h–1, with approximately 52.41% of the heat loss being reabsorbed. This sophisticated pattern design provides a promising guideline for optimizing thermal management strategies and promoting practically scalable applications.