Adaptive and Multifunctional Emulsion Solar Evaporators with High Operating Stability in Extreme Environments

Global water scarcity and pollution demand innovative solutions for sustainable clean water production. While interfacial solar evaporation holds great promise, current evaporators face significant challenges in achieving stable clean water productivity under harsh conditions. Here, a highly adaptive, liquid-like, multifunctional Pickering emulsion solar evaporator is developed, which can be formed in situ on oil-contaminated water or preconstructed with optimized rheological properties for flexible and scalable deployment. The resulting emulsion evaporator exhibits multidirectional water transport pathways, enhanced thermal localization, controllable salt deposition, and gravity-assisted self-cleaning capabilities. During operation, this evaporator can actively integrate oil contaminants into its emulsion structure without compromising efficiency, while inhibiting salt accumulation, realizing stable, long-term ultrahigh-rate evaporation (12.5 kg m^-2 h^-1) even in hypersaline (26 wt.%) conditions under elevated solar irradiation intensity (11 kW cm^-2). It also degrades organic pollutants (e.g., nearly 100% phenol removal), deactivates bacteria, and prevents biofouling. Its phase transformation capability enables easy recovery and recycling, further enhancing practicality and sustainability. This study overcomes the limitations of conventional solid-state solar evaporators, offering a versatile platform for clean water production in challenging environments.