Shape-Modulated Interfacial Evaporator for Enhanced Sunlight-Driven Clean Water Harvesting

Modern society faces significant challenges in meeting the rising demand for both electricity and clean drinking water. In this context, a three-dimensional tree-shaped evaporator (TSE) has been developed to enable simultaneous photothermal seawater desalination and uranium recovery. The TSE features a mechanically robust, macroporous hydrogel structure that ensures a continuous water supply for evaporation, provides enhanced evaporation sites, and incorporates selective uranyl-binding moieties. These characteristics allow the TSE to achieve a remarkable evaporation rate of 4.2 kg·m^-2·h^-1 and a uranium recovery capacity of 391 mg·g^-1 under one sun solar irradiation. Furthermore, the TSE utilizes its top interface for efficient solar harvesting, thereby improving solar energy conversion and accelerating uranyl adsorption. This innovative material offers a synergistic solution to the global needs for clean water and sustainable nuclear energy, paving the way to address the increasing demands of modern civilization.