Nowadays, energy and the environment have become critical issues for determining the sustainability of the Earth. Freshwater crises, as an increasingly serious global problem, pose a great threat to our economies, the environment and us. Solar-driven evaporation has emerged as a promising and sustainable approach to convert solar energy into clean water. In fact, the production of freshwater is not only governed by heat generation at the interface, but the process also relies on the coordination and cooperation of functional modules in the solar-driven evaporation system. This review begins with system designs of solar evaporators, considering thermal manipulation structures, water transportation pathways, and vapour condensation modules, which focus on improving the overall energy utilization, long-term usability, and freshwater yield. This is followed by a summary and discussions of cutting-edge solar evaporation applications and their underlying mechanisms. Finally, existing challenges and potential solutions for future applications are discussed and provided. This review aims to provide useful guidelines and references to scientists and researchers for the future development of clean water generation systems.

中文翻译：

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太阳能驱动蒸发系统的最新进展

如今，能源和环境已成为决定地球可持续性的关键问题。淡水危机是一个日益严重的全球性问题，对我们的经济，环境和我们构成了巨大威胁。太阳能驱动的蒸发已成为一种将太阳能转化为清洁水的有前途且可持续的方法。实际上，淡水的产生不仅取决于界面处的热量产生，而且该过程还依赖于太阳能驱动蒸发系统中功能模块的协调与配合。这篇综述从太阳能蒸发器的系统设计开始，考虑了热操纵结构，输水路径和蒸汽冷凝模块，这些模块着重于提高整体能源利用率，长期可用性和淡水产量。接下来是对最前沿的太阳能蒸发应用及其潜在机制的总结和讨论。最后，讨论并提供了面向未来应用的现有挑战和潜在解决方案。这篇综述旨在为科学家和研究人员为清洁水产生系统的未来发展提供有用的指南和参考。