Umbrella evaporator for continuous solar vapor generation and salt harvesting from seawater

Solar vapor generation, which uses photothermal materials to desalinate seawater by evaporation, is a promising technology to mitigate the water scarcity problem, but its performance is hindered by large heat leak and salt accumulation problems. Here we report an umbrella evaporator that achieves efficient vapor generation and salt harvesting concurrently via double-sided evaporation and reveal the salt nucleation, growth, and falling mechanism. The evaporator reaches an evaporation rate of 1.25 kg m (-2)$h(-1) under ambient conditions, and its continuous operation for vapor and salt production from seawater is demonstrated. The salt mobility on the evaporation surface determines whether the salt could accumulate at the edge, which is influenced by water supply, solar intensity, salinity, and Mg2+ and Ca2+ contents.A simple salt creeping test on a glass slide is developed to determine whether and to what extent seawater needs to be pre-treated for continuous operation.

Automated summary

This study reports an umbrella evaporator that achieves efficient vapor generation and salt harvesting simultaneously through double-sided evaporation. The evaporator exhibits a high evaporation rate under ambient conditions and can continuously produce vapor and salt from seawater. The study also reveals the factors influencing salt accumulation on the evaporation surface.