Additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal desalination with simultaneous complete mineral mining from ocean water

Luheng Tang; Subhash C. Singh; Ran Wei; Tianshu Xu; Chunlei Guo

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02315-4

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Additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal desalination with simultaneous complete mineral mining from ocean water

Original Articles

- Additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal desalination with simultaneous complete mineral mining from ocean water
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 8, Pages: 2792-2805(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
- Author bio：
  
  Subhash C. Singh (ssingh49@ur.rochester.edu)
  Chunlei Guo (guo@optics.rochester.edu)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02315-4
  CLC：
- Received：31 July 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-04-08，
  
  Accepted：14 April 2026，
  
  Online First：27 May 2026，
  
  Published：31 August 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Tang, L. H. et al. Additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal desalination with simultaneous complete mineral mining from ocean water. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 2792-2805 (2026).
DOI：

Tang, L. H. et al. Additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal desalination with simultaneous complete mineral mining from ocean water. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 2792-2805 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02315-4.

摘要

Abstract

Solar-thermal interfacial desalination is a sustainable solution to meet the ever-increasing global freshwater demand. However

when treating actual ocean water

salt accumulation on the evaporator surfaces and brine discharge are major issues limiting the performance and posing environmental concerns. By utilizing a femtosecond laser surface processing technique

we create a multi-functional superwicking black metal (SWBM) panel that can pull a thin water film uphill across its surface

absorb nearly all solar radiation

and most importantly

automatically move the crystalized salts from the active regions to the passive regions for self-cleaning and salt collection. This SWBM serves as an energy-efficient

self-maintained

and additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal interfacial crystallizer (ABF-STIC) that simultaneously produces fresh water and harnesses nearly all salts directly from ocean water. This self-cleaning effect is attributed to the coffee ring effect and salt creeping

which can be enhanced by deeper and wider grooves

enabling self-cleaning even when treating real ocean water. Our ABF-STIC tracks the sun and operates continuously for a week to purify actual ocean water

achieving an average evaporation rate of 1.76±0.04 kg m

−2

−1

and salt harvesting rate of 61.74 ± 2.46 g m

−2

−1

under one sun

corresponding to ~ 74% solar to vapor conversion efficiency and nearly 100% salt extraction.

关键词

Keywords

references

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