Self-Cleaning Solar Evaporation Facilitating Water Electrolysis for Hydrogen Generation From Seawater

Clean energy demands and zero-carbon commitments have stimulated the desire for stable seawater electrolysis, yet device corrosion and catalyst deactivation seriously hinder industrial-scale deployment. Here we present an innovative integrated platform that couples photothermal evaporation and desalinated water electrolysis. Relying on a hydrogen-bonding crosslinking mechanism and anion-induced Hofmeister effects, a lightweight spherical evaporator uniformly coated with a modified needle coke gel film is designed, exhibiting attractive continuous desalination performance (2.32 kg m^-2 h^-1 in 3.5 wt%) and salt-resistant self-cleaning capabilities. Subsequently, two independently improved evaporation-collection systems outperform the traditional configuration during extended all-weather outdoor experiments. Especially, the gas-stripping assisted evaporation system holds powerful resistance capacity to adverse weather, achieving 5 times more water yield on a rainy day. Importantly, their seamless adaptation to anion/cation exchange membrane electrolysis systems has pioneered the long-term application of advanced membrane electrodes in desalinated water electrolysis, cleverly addressing corrosion and catalyst deactivation barriers. This integrated strategy provides a practicable route for energy-saving and large-scale hydrogen extraction from seawater.