Interfacial solar evaporation: An up‐to‐date (2024–2025) review of materials, structures, and system designs for next‐generation desalination

Through this comprehensive 2024–2025 review, the recent trends in interfacial solar evaporation (ISE) systems are systematically analyzed, classifying progress into a number of themes including material innovation, structural engineering (2D–3D evolution and Janus/multi‐surface designs), system integration, and theoretical interpretation, thus consolidating the overall proof for performance‐relevant mechanisms and design trajectories. The results indicate considerable advancement in performance and operational robustness across the studied themes. These include solar‐to‐vapor conversion efficacies of more than 97% under one‐sun illumination; rapid evaporation rates attaining between 1.4 and 2.2 kg/m 2 h for standard seawater, with 3D architectures promoting an evaporation rate to 3.35 kg/m 2 h (and beyond 3.61 kg/m 2 h, which exceeds the performance ceiling of conventional 2D systems). Specifically, salt management has been improved via 2D–3D evolution, Janus configurations, and multi‐surface engineering, permitting sustained operation in highly concentrated brines (20–25 wt % NaCl) for 10–24 h without measurable performance decay. Moreover, ISE reliably generates potable‐quality water with ion and heavy‐metal declines of 3–4 orders of magnitude, characteristically attaining TDS < 10 mg/L, well lower than WHO drinking water thresholds. Several next‐generation designs; particularly novel structural architectures and hydrogel‐based systems have reported excellent salt and heavy metal ions rejection of 99% and 99.9%, respectively, and even established salt harvesting of 26.7 g within 15 operational days. Long‐term durability is also well reinforced, with stable operation beyond 15–28 days without self‐cleansers and salt‐rejection systems.