Monolithic all-weather solar-thermal interfacial membrane evaporator

Salt blocking and low evaporation efficiency under weak sun irradiation are two obstacles of solar-thermal seawater desalination in the industrialization process. Herein, the challenges are overcome by a solar-thermal interfacial membrane evaporation (STIME) system, i.e., combining merits of advanced thermal management of interfacial evaporation and salt insulation of membrane evaporation, simultaneously achieving salt-resistance, hydrovoltaic generation, and all-weather vapor generation. By employing a hybrid system based on sandwich-like MXene-graphene oxide-MXene (MGM) on a commercial PVDF membrane ([email protected]), we achieved an evaporation efficiency up to 92.5% and without any salt accumulation for 10 h at 10 wt% NaCl solution. Moreover, the system can also be driven by Joule-heating effect for water evaporation under dark or cloudy conditions. The maximum evaporation rate of this system driven by sunlight (0.5 sun) and electricity (36 V) can reach 10.5 kg m-2h−1. Apart from water evaporation, the [email protected] modules possess excellent molecular sieve effect and can pretreat dye pollution before desalination. Furthermore, the [email protected] also exhibits excellent anti-bacterial effect and biocompatibility, ensuring ecological balance during real-world applications. Thus, the developed STIME system provides a novel avenue for all-weather steam generation to constantly provide safe drinking water.