Solar vapor generation utilizes ubiquitous solar energy to address the issue of global water shortage. However, its large-scale field deployment is greatly hampered by inefficient solar absorption, moderate evaporation efficiency and high cost. Here, we report a new hybrid photothermal membrane, named broadband plasmonic Cu_2−xTe nanowire (bpCu_2−xTe) membrane, for interfacial solar evaporation to produce freshwater from various water sources. The bpCu_2−xTe membrane features excellent broadband solar absorption (~95.9%), high porosity and hydrophilicity, and low thermal conductivity (0.55 W/(m K)), which enables a water evaporation rate as high as 4.3 kg/(m² h) with the evaporation efficiency of up to 96% under 3 kW/m² solar irradiation. The evaporation performance of the present Cu_2−xTe membrane can be maintained even after it recycles multiple times under various solar irradiance, indicating excellent durability and stability. Efficient solar desalination of seawater is further demonstrated with the bpCu_2−xTe membrane to deliver drinkable water. The combination of scalable fabrication ability, low cost and excellent solar evaporation performance of the bpCu_2−xTe membrane highlights the potential for seawater purification and desalination in field applications.

太阳能蒸气的产生利用无处不在的太阳能来解决全球水资源短缺的问题。然而，其低效率的太阳能吸收，适度的蒸发效率和高成本极大地阻碍了其大规模的现场部署。在这里，我们报告了一种新的混合光热膜，称为宽带等离激元Cu _{2 x} Te纳米线（bpCu _{2 x} Te）膜，用于界面太阳蒸发，以从各种水源产生淡水。bpCu _2-x Te膜具有出色的宽带太阳能吸收率（〜95.9 ％），高孔隙率和亲水性以及低热导率（0.55 W /（m K）），可使水蒸发速率高达4.3 kg /（ m ² h），在3 kW / m ²下蒸发效率高达96％太阳辐射。即使在各种日光照射下多次循环后，本Cu _2-x Te膜的蒸发性能仍可保持，表明了极好的耐久性和稳定性。bpCu _2-x Te膜可进一步有效地海水淡化，以提供饮用水。bpCu _2-x Te膜的可扩展制造能力，低成本和出色的太阳能蒸发性能的结合突出了在现场应用中海水净化和脱盐的潜力。