With freshwater scarcity climbing the global risk list, solar-driven interfacial desalination (SID) promises a carbon-free route to tap the oceans. Yet salt crusts and biofilms quickly cripple conventional hydrogel evaporators, forcing frequent cleaning or device replacement. Now, a Hebei University of Technology–Tsinghua team led by Prof. Panpan Zhang and Prof. Zhi-Yong Ji has bio-mimicked the “salt-water fish” strategy, creating a superhydrated zwitterionic PTMAO/PAAm/polypyrrole hydrogel (PTAP) whose tightly paired N⁺–O⁻ groups lock in a 15 g g -1 water sheath that rejects ions, proteins, bacteria and algae while still letting water race through at 2.35 kg m -2 h -1 under 1 kW m -2 sunlight.
Why This Matters
Innovative Design & Features
Applications & Future Outlook
By translating a fish-gill hydration trick into a solid-state solar engine, the work delivers the first long-life evaporator that laughs at salt, microbes and wear—pointing toward truly “fit-and-forget” desalination wherever the sun shines and the sea laps the shore.
Nano-Micro Letters
News article
Superhydrated Zwitterionic Hydrogel with Dedicated Water Channels Enables Nonfouling Solar Desalination
8-Dec-2025