Scalable Asymmetric Fabric Evaporator for Solar Desalination and Thermoelectricity Generation

The integration of solar interfacial evaporation and power generation offers a sustainable solution to address water and electricity scarcity. Although water-power cogeneration schemes are proposed, the existing schemes lack scalability, flexibility, convenience, and stability. These limitations severely limit their future industrial applications. In this study, we prepared a hybrid fabric composed of basalt fibers and cotton yarns with asymmetric structure using textile weaving technology. The cotton yarn in lower layer of fabric facilitates water transport, while the basalt fibers in upper layer enable thermal localization and water supply balancing. The carbon black is deposited on top layer by flame burning to facilitate photothermal conversion. The fabric exhibits a high evaporation rate of 1.52 kg m^-2 h^-1, which is 3.6 times that of pure water, and an efficiency of 88.06% under 1 kW m^-2 light intensity. After assembly with a thermoelectric module, the hybrid system achieves a maximum output power density of 66.73 mW m^-2. By exploiting the scalability of fabric, large-scale desalination and power production can be achieved in outdoor environments. This study demonstrates the seamless integration of fabric-based solar evaporation and waste heat-to-energy technologies, thereby providing new avenues for the development of scalable and stable water-power cogeneration systems.