1T/2H MoS2 nanoflowers embedded in porous PDMS sponge with high salt-resistance for efficient and durable solar desalination

Solar water evaporation is emerging as one of the most cost-effective and sustainable technologies for efficient seawater desalination. However, salt crystallization during solar desalination severely limits light absorption and reduces evaporation efficiency. Balancing the desirable evaporation rate and the suppressed salt crystallization is critical for long-term solar desalination, but remains a major challenge. In this work, 1T/2H MoS2 nanoflower embedded in a macroporous PDMS sponge (MoS2/PDMS) was fabricated and used as a novel solar evaporator for efficient and durable solar desalination. Thanks to the broadband absorption of MoS2 and the thermal insulating PDMS sponge, the MoS2/PDMS sponge presents a high evaporation rate of 1.47 kg m−2 h−1 and an evaporation efficiency of 81.5 % in pure water under one sun irradiation (1 kW m−2). Importantly, the MoS2/PDMS sponge with macroporous structure and wet-state hydrophilic wettability achieves efficient and durable solar desalination in simulated seawater (3.5 wt% NaCl solution), effectively suppressing salt crystallization. This finding offers a new way to design robust evaporators with structural flexibility, efficient evaporation and durable desalting for solar desalination.