Tree‐Inspired Design for High‐Efficiency Water Extraction

The solar steam process, akin to the natural water cycle, is considered to be an attractive approach to address water scarcity issues globally. However, water extraction from groundwater, for example, has not been demonstrated using these existing technologies. Additionally, there are major unaddressed challenges in extracting potable water from seawater including salt accumulation and long-term evaporation stability, which warrant further investigation. Herein, a high-performance solar steam device composed entirely of natural wood is reported. The pristine, natural wood is cut along the transverse direction and the top surface is carbonized to create a unique bilayer structure. This tree-inspired design…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Defense
• CS
  China Scholarship Council
• JP
  Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education
• ND
  National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate