1T/2H MoS2 nanoflowers embedded in porous PDMS sponge with high salt-resistance for efficient and durable solar desalination

Solar water evaporation is emerging as one of the most cost-effective and sustainable technologies for efficient seawater desalination . However, salt crystallization during solar desalination severely limits light absorption and reduces evaporation efficiency. Balancing the desirable evaporation rate and the suppressed salt crystallization is critical for long-term solar desalination, but remains a major challenge. In this work, 1T/2H MoS 2 nanoflower embedded in a macroporous PDMS sponge (MoS 2 /PDMS) was fabricated and used as a novel solar evaporator for efficient and durable solar desalination. Thanks to the broadband absorption of MoS 2 and the thermal insulating PDMS sponge, the MoS 2 /PDMS sponge presents a high evaporation rate of 1.47 kg m −2  h −1 and an evaporation efficiency of 81.5 % in pure water under one sun irradiation (1 kW m −2 ). Importantly, the MoS 2 /PDMS sponge with macroporous structure and wet-state hydrophilic wettability achieves efficient and durable solar desalination in simulated seawater (3.5 wt% NaCl solution), effectively suppressing salt crystallization. This finding offers a new way to design robust evaporators with structural flexibility, efficient evaporation and durable desalting for solar desalination.