Bioinspired design for solar-driven evaporation and atmospheric water harvesting toward sustainable freshwater production

Freshwater scarcity has stimulated growing interest in sustainable water-acquisition technologies. Among them, solar-driven interfacial evaporation and atmospheric water harvesting represent two complementary routes that reconstruct key steps of the natural water cycle. Although significant progress has been achieved, these technologies are often discussed separately despite sharing common interfacial transport and energy-management mechanisms. This review presents a unified bioinspired framework for green freshwater production by integrating solar-driven interfacial evaporation and atmospheric water harvesting from the perspective of biological interfacial design. Four fundamental design principles are highlighted, namely photothermal energy management, capillary and directional water transport, atmospheric water capture and collection, and interface stability regulation. Representative bioinspired structures, manufacturing strategies and structure–function relationships are systematically discussed, covering light trapping, thermal localization, water transport, salt resistance, fog harvesting, moisture capture and leakage-resistant sorbent systems. Recent advances in desalination, resource recovery, energy generation, industrial vapor recovery and agricultural applications are further summarized. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities toward scalable, durable and multifunctional freshwater production systems are discussed. This review provides a comprehensive perspective for translating biological principles into practical water-acquisition technologies.