Recent Research Progress and Prospect of Photothermal Materials in Seawater Desalination

Solar water evaporation system has appealing advantages of low cost and high energy efficiency, which is of great significance to alleviate energy crisis, reduce water pollution and promote seawater desalination. However, the natural mechanism of solar-driven water evaporation system is often affected via low evaporation rate and small absorption spectrum range. The interface evaporation strategy that locally heats and limits heat loss is widely recognized as a high-performance and sustainable approach for efficient solar steam generation. With the continuous development of solar evaporation technology, the preparation of green and efficient photothermal materials has become a research hotspot. In this review, the photothermal materials were classified into metal materials, semiconductor materials, carbon-based materials and polymer materials according to their types. It elaborated on the photothermal conversion mechanisms of different materials and summarized the research status and progress of photothermal materials in the field of seawater desalination in recent years. The potential candidate photothermal materials were discussed and their future development was forecasted. This review aims to propose practical strategies for the rational design and development of efficient photothermal materials in the field of seawater desalination. The findings summarized in this review are of great significance for the future development of photothermal materials and provide valuable guidance for future research in this area.