Interfacial Salinity–Transport Matching in 3D Solar Evaporators: A Framework for Brine‐Stable Solar Interfacial Evaporation
- 1SMaRT Research Group Department of Mechanical Engineering School of Engineering University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
- 2Levidian Nanosystems Limited Levidian Technology Centre Cambridge UK
- 3The Manufacturing Technology Centre Ltd Coventry UK
Abstract
Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation is commonly optimized through photothermal absorption and evaporation flux normalized by projected illuminated area. This metric is useful for quasi‐2D evaporators and dilute feeds, but it does not resolve the coupled constraints that emerge in 3D architectures during brine operation. Here, porous polyvinyl alcohol/graphene nanoplatelet evaporators are used to identify the transition from evaporation‐cooled operation to brine transport limitation. GNP incorporation increases dry photothermal temperatures to 150–180°C; however, this dry‐state ranking is not preserved under brine. Under DI water and 3.5 wt.% NaCl, evaporative cooling suppresses dry‐temperature differences and produces stable wet operation. Under 20 wt.% NaCl, several architectures develop delayed sensible heat accumulation after the early operating period despite no visible salt accumulation. Two evaporators with similar dry photothermal temperatures show sharply different brine responses: the low exposed‐boundary structure reaches 131.34°C after 4 h, whereas the high exposed‐boundary structure shows only 5.34°C late‐stage thermal drift and retains the highest brine‐flux stability. Local conductivity, salt mass balance, transport descriptors, and side‐sealed controls show that brine‐stable 3D evaporation requires matched heat generation, capillary replenishment, salt redistribution, and vapor removal, rather than maximum dry temperature, first‐hour flux, or visual salt suppression as sole performance criteria alone.
Related
- Preparation of Membrane Evaporators and Solar Interfacial Water Evaporation Performance Study
- Interlayer Architecture Modulates Water State and Transport in Chitosan Aerogels for Solar-Driven Interfacial Evaporation
- Transition-Metal Sulfide/Carbon Composites Derived from Recycled Sulfonated Resin as High-Photothermal-Conversion Materials for Solar-Driven Interfacial Evaporation
- Interfacial control and evaporation pinning of nanocapillary filling from ambient to serpentinization temperatures
- Toward Pore‐Engineered 3D‐Printed Materials for Sorption Water Harvesting, Interfacial Evaporation, and Radiative Cooling
BibTeX
@article{bafqi2026interfacial,
title = {{Interfacial Salinity–Transport Matching in 3D Solar Evaporators: A Framework for Brine‐Stable Solar Interfacial Evaporation}},
author = {Mohammad Sajad Sorayani Bafqi and Arun Prakash Aranga Raju and Omid Doustdar and Reza Nekouie Esfahani and Ali Sadaghiani},
journal = {Advanced Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/advs.77527},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77527},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Interfacial Salinity–Transport Matching in 3D Solar Evaporators: A Framework for Brine‐Stable Solar Interfacial Evaporation
AU - Mohammad Sajad Sorayani Bafqi
AU - Arun Prakash Aranga Raju
AU - Omid Doustdar
AU - Reza Nekouie Esfahani
AU - Ali Sadaghiani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/30
JO - Advanced Science
DO - 10.1002/advs.77527
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77527
AB - Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation is commonly optimized through photothermal absorption and evaporation flux normalized by projected illuminated area. This metric is useful for quasi‐2D evaporators and dilute feeds, but it does not resolve the coupled constraints that emerge in 3D architectures during brine operation. Here, porous polyvinyl alcohol/graphene nanoplatelet evaporators are used to identify the transition from evaporation‐cooled operation to brine transport limitation. GNP incorporation increases dry photothermal temperatures to 150–180°C; however, this dry‐state ranking is not preserved under brine. Under DI water and 3.5 wt.% NaCl, evaporative cooling suppresses dry‐temperature differences and produces stable wet operation. Under 20 wt.% NaCl, several architectures develop delayed sensible heat accumulation after the early operating period despite no visible salt accumulation. Two evaporators with similar dry photothermal temperatures show sharply different brine responses: the low exposed‐boundary structure reaches 131.34°C after 4 h, whereas the high exposed‐boundary structure shows only 5.34°C late‐stage thermal drift and retains the highest brine‐flux stability. Local conductivity, salt mass balance, transport descriptors, and side‐sealed controls show that brine‐stable 3D evaporation requires matched heat generation, capillary replenishment, salt redistribution, and vapor removal, rather than maximum dry temperature, first‐hour flux, or visual salt suppression as sole performance criteria alone.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -