Hydrogel‐Enabled Interfacial Water Regulation for Enhanced Multistage Solar Evaporation

Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation offers an ecofriendly and sustainable route for clean water production, but its performance is fundamentally limited by the energy input and conversion efficiency of single‐stage systems. Hydrogel‐based materials have demonstrated advantages in regulating water existing and interfacial properties in single‐stage evaporation systems. However, their integration with multistage evaporation architectures has not been systematically explored. In response, we used bacterial cellulose (BC) gel as a model material, constructing a cascade multistage solar evaporation unit (CSU) that features latent heat recovery, effective thermal localization, and confined interfacial environments that modulate water states. This design accelerates vapor generation and enhances overall energy utilization. The 4‐stage CSU achieves a high water production rate of 2.01 kg m −2 h −1 under 1 sun. Outdoor experiments confirm stable operation under fluctuating conditions and high‐quality water production meeting drinking standards. In conclusion, this work provides a general strategy for coupling interfacial water regulation with multistage evaporation architecture, advancing high‐efficiency solar desalination technologies.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small Structures
Published
2026-07-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.70549
Primary Topic
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Hydrogel‐Enabled Interfacial Water Regulation for Enhanced Multistage Solar Evaporation

J C Liu, Bo Wang, Yanlin Li, Yi-Xiang Wang et al.
Small Structures
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
article

Hydrogel‐Enabled Interfacial Water Regulation for Enhanced Multistage Solar Evaporation

J C Liu, Bo Wang, Yanlin Li, Yi-Xiang Wang, Zhen Yu, Yafei Fan
article en

Abstract

Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation offers an ecofriendly and sustainable route for clean water production, but its performance is fundamentally limited by the energy input and conversion efficiency of single‐stage systems. Hydrogel‐based materials have demonstrated advantages in regulating water existing and interfacial properties in single‐stage evaporation systems. However, their integration with multistage evaporation architectures has not been systematically explored. In response, we used bacterial cellulose (BC) gel as a model material, constructing a cascade multistage solar evaporation unit (CSU) that features latent heat recovery, effective thermal localization, and confined interfacial environments that modulate water states. This design accelerates vapor generation and enhances overall energy utilization. The 4‐stage CSU achieves a high water production rate of 2.01 kg m −2 h −1 under 1 sun. Outdoor experiments confirm stable operation under fluctuating conditions and high‐quality water production meeting drinking standards. In conclusion, this work provides a general strategy for coupling interfacial water regulation with multistage evaporation architecture, advancing high‐efficiency solar desalination technologies.

Small StructuresVol. 7(8)
Tianjin University of Technology (CN), Shandong University (CN), Tianjin University (CN), City University of Hong Kong (HK), Tianjin Conservatory of Music (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 24%
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
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Hydrogel‐Enabled Interfacial Water Regulation for Enhanced Multistage Solar Evaporation — J C Liu, Bo Wang, et al. · Small Structures (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS