{
  "abstract": "The increasing global water scarcity, driven by population growth, industrialization, and climate change, has created an urgent need for sustainable and efficient water desalination. This study focuses on developing a solar-driven steam generation (SSG) desalination system that uses photothermal materials (PTMs), such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and graphene produced via laser-induced graphene (LIG), to enhance evaporation efficiency. The system was prepared by coating melamine foam (MF), used as the base, with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at varying concentrations (0.6 wt%–1.4 wt%), with the 1 wt% concentration showing the highest evaporation rate. MoS2 (1 wt%) was incorporated to improve light absorption. The final step involved graphitization and surface modification via the LIG technique, using a 450 ± 5 nm visible laser to induce structural changes. The effects of laser power and scribing density (Lines-Per-Inch, LPI) on the evaporation rate and efficiency were investigated. The optimal configuration, consisting of 1 wt% PVA, 1 wt% MoS2, 0.5 W laser power, and 300 LPI, significantly enhanced light absorption to 77%, compared with 65% in the baseline sample. This Janus configuration achieved an evaporation rate of 1.925 kg m−2 h−2 in saline water (3.5% sodium chloride (NaCl)) under 1 kW/m2 solar irradiance, corresponding to an apparent evaporation efficiency of ~98%. The integration of material engineering improves the SSG system’s performance. The system demonstrated excellent stability over 10 cycles in a saline environment, with no significant performance degradation. Using the combined advantages of PVA, MoS2 and LIG offers a scalable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient approach, making it a promising system for sustainable desalination and the water scarcity crisis.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Physics Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Entesar A. Ganash",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8058-4928"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Salihah A. Al-zahrani"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hala A. Al-Jawhari",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0794-8219"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Reem M. Altuwirqi",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2255-9625"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/53csfc3dnj11a.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/polym18212778",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "53csfc3dnj11a",
  "issns": [
    "2073-4360"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2778",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-07",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/53csfc3dnj11a.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-10T00:21:22Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/polym18212778",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2778"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "issn:2073-4360",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fabrication of Laser-Induced Graphene/MoS2/PVA@Melamine Evaporators for Rapid Solar Steam Generation",
  "title_text": "Fabrication of Laser-Induced Graphene/MoS2/PVA@Melamine Evaporators for Rapid Solar Steam Generation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-10T00:21:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/53csfc3dnj11a",
  "venue": "Polymers",
  "versions": []
}