Water evaporation systems for the simultaneous generation of electricity and water desalination: a review

Abstract

In recent years, people have been committed to obtaining clean water and electric energy through solar interface evaporation, a common phenomenon in nature. The method of collecting clean water through steam condensation has matured, but the mechanism of water evaporation-induced power generation still needs to be further supplemented and improved. Therefore, this review summarizes some of the reported working principles of water evaporation-induced power generation and solar interfacial evaporation and proposes a possible relationship between ionic liquids and the pore size of materials, which may have an impact on the behavior of solar interfacial evaporation desalination while improving power generation. At present, there are many types of devices that generate clean water and electricity via solar interface evaporation. This review classifies and summarizes these devices on the basis of materials, working modules and overall systems; analyzes their respective characteristics and existing shortcomings; and evaluates the quality of products. Additionally, the advantages of these devices in portable power supply and portable water purification, environmental monitoring and obtaining more abundant products are highlighted. Finally, the problems that need to be solved in practical production are presented, some methods to solve these problems are summarized, and some future development directions are proposed.