To address the global freshwater scarcity, the solar‐driven interfacial evaporation system presents considerable potential. Nevertheless, the performance of conventional 2D evaporators is nearing its theoretical limit, prompting extensive research into 3D configurations. As different structural designs exhibit varying evaporation rates, the relationship between specific 3D architectures and device performance remains unclear. In this study, we systematically investigate the influence of key geometric parameters—including shape, specific surface area, unit height, unit area, and number of units—on the evaporation efficiency of 3D evaporators. These evaporators were fabricated using an interconnected porous carbon black/chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel as the base material. Experimental results indicate that the quadrangular structure achieves a higher evaporation rate compared to other shapes. Through parametric optimization, the quadrangular evaporator achieved an evaporation rate of 2.74 kg·m −2 ·h −1 under one‐sun illumination (100 mW·cm −2 ), with a solar absorption efficiency of 95.8%. Furthermore, the evaporator demonstrated excellent long‐term stability and reusability in practical seawater desalination and the treatment of various wastewater streams. This work offers a design framework for developing efficient and stable 3D solar evaporators.
Wang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.