Phase Change Materials for Continuous All‐Day Solar‐Driven Interfacial Evaporation

ABSTRACT Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) has emerged as a promising strategy for sustainable clean water production. However, the inherent intermittency of solar energy and a constantly varying irradiation angle not only result in unstable evaporation performance, but also salt accumulation, thereby hindering the long‐term stable operation of SDIE systems. Integrating phase change materials (PCMs) into SDIE systems offers an effective route for storing excess thermal energy and subsequently releasing it to sustain evaporation during cloudy periods or nighttime. Despite recent advances, a comprehensive review systematically comparing PCMs integration strategies and their influences on all‐day evaporator performance remains lacking. In this review, the energy transfer processes involved in the superheating and subcooling stages of PCMs‐integrated SDIE systems are elucidated in detail. Furthermore, a benchmarking framework for PCMs‐enabled SDIE systems is established to evaluate system reliability and energy efficiency. The micro/nanoarchitectures and failure mechanisms of PCMs‐integrated SDIE systems are also systematically categorized and quantitatively compared. Finally, the remaining technical challenges and future perspectives are discussed to provide guidance for the development of next‐generation high‐performance all‐day evaporators.