Ferric tannate photothermal material for efficient water distillation

Utilizing sunlight to accelerate water evaporation is emerging as a promising strategy for desalination and for distilling wastewater. Here we report on the application of ferric tannate as such a photothermal material, which is deposited onto a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane and encapsulated with titanium dioxide via atomic layer deposition. This system achieves 63.9% efficiency for the overall process, suggesting strong potential for real-world application.