Solar-driven interfacial evaporation: Research advances in structural design

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) has emerged as an eco-friendly, efficient and emerging technology for solving the water scarcity crisis, which can simultaneously meet the multiple demands of energy, freshwater and environment. With the deepening of research in this field, researchers have proposed more and more advanced and efficient strategies for improving the evaporation performance of SDIE systems. Particularly, the structural design of solar evaporator has become a key research topic in this field to further improve the performance of the evaporator. So far, researchers have designed and improved many innovative and unique structures. However, a comprehensive and systematic summary and overview of the various types of structural design for solar evaporator is still lacking. In this review, we summarize the recent research advances in various structural designs used for SDIE systems in recent years. The preparation, advantages and disadvantages of two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), suspended and biomimetic structures and its applications are categorized and discussed, respectively. The influence of the structures on the desalination performance is emphasized. Finally, the challenges and development prospects of SDIE technology are presented. This review provides a systematic reference for the design of future solar evaporator structures, and it is hoped that these efforts will help to drive SDIE technology towards a more sustainable and efficient direction.