Solar-driven vapor generation (SDVG) emerges as a promising solution to the global freshwater crisis; yet, the scalable applications in seawater desalination are significantly hindered by the salt deposition. Herein, we report a self-floating biomass porous carbon with robust salt resistance derived from a simple, one-step carbonization of the Elymus nutans. The material features a natural hierarchical pore structure and superhydrophilicity, which work synergistically to ensure a rapid water supply and effectively prevent salt crystallization at the evaporation interface. Under 1 sun illumination (1 kW m−2), the biomass-derived carbon achieves a high evaporation rate of 1.41 kg m−2 h−1 with a solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 88.9%. More importantly, it demonstrates exceptional stability, maintaining stable evaporation in 3.5 wt% and 15 wt% NaCl solutions for over 12 h, with recorded rates of 1.33 and 1.16 kg m−2 h−1, respectively. The real seawater sample desalinating results verified the biomass-porous-carbon-realized high-efficient and robust solar-driven interfacial desalination. This work presents a sustainable, cost-effective, and salt-resistant material platform, offering a practical pathway for scalable solar desalination.
Liang et al. (2026) studied this question.