Seawater and brackish water desalination provides a viable alternative to clean water supply for regions lacking fresh water sources or facing severe droughts. Current desalination technologies, however, are energy-expensive and environmentally unfriendly. Mimicking the natural transpiration process of mangrove trees that are able to survive in high-salinity environment, an artificial tree is conceived as a next-generation desalination system that can be entirely solar-powered and potentially achieve zero-liquid discharge and resource recovery. The artificial tree will float on saline water and be composed of synthetic roots that uptake and pretreat feed water, a synthetic trunk that lifts water up via capillary action through its microporous xylem, and synthetic leaves that efficiently convert sunlight to localized heat for water evaporation through their pores. Water vapor is condensed for clean water production while salt is collected for resource recovery or proper disposal. Science and technologies available and needed for realizing the artificial tree system are critically reviewed.

对于缺少淡水源或面临严重干旱的地区，海水和微咸水淡化提供了一种替代清洁水的可行选择。然而，当前的脱盐技术耗能高且对环境不利。模仿可以在高盐环境中生存的红树林的自然蒸腾过程，人造树被视为下一代淡化系统，该系统可以完全由太阳能供电，并有可能实现零液体排放和资源回收。人造树将漂浮在盐水上，由吸收和预处理给水的合成根组成，合成树干通过微孔木质部通过毛细作用将水提起，以及合成树叶，它们可以将阳光有效地转化为局部热量，从而通过毛孔蒸发水分。冷凝水蒸气以生产清洁水，同时收集盐以回收资源或适当处置。严格审查了实现人造树系统所需的科学技术。